The Cursed World
by GajeelRedfoxfan808
Summary: Things happen for a reason, and if the same request appears to two different people, there must be a reason. Now, those two people are on a mission of a life time. One Snake and One Star have nothing, but each other in a strange world with creatures, spells, and Gods trying to kill them. With everything going on, some things come into light that will shock both of them.
1. A Land Disturbed

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back! I'm here to finally complete a story, and move on to others. I hope everyone enjoys this story as it progresses, and I hope that everyone learns a thing or two about the mythology behind this story.**

 **If anyone wants the background of this story, please go to my profile to read about it.**

 **Fairy Tail does not belong to me, but it belongs to it's creator, Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter One:**

A Land Disturbed

The second the prince woke up this morning he knew something was wrong, so very wrong. He could feel it in the air, and see it in the sky as the blue turned to a red, black, and purple. The sky was starting to swirl in ways it never had before, and the clouds were starting to turn a dark grey.

His usual happy demeanor was gone before the Gods could even notice themselves, and he rushed out of his room while he avoided the servants wondering the castle. He even noticed his usual strong and sturdy soldier acting out of place, each looking around the castle nervously; some didn't even acknowledge his presence. That's when he knew something was definitely wrong, and as he searched for answers the whole morning, he soon found himself in his castle's library.

He rushed through the different types of books in the library as he hoped one could possibly give him an answer to what was going on. He remembered how the animals in his castle started to become sick from unknown reasons, and turned into skeleton or mummy creatures that were a force to reckon with. Even the books he went through couldn't give him an answer about those strange occurrences.

He should have known that there were no answers in his books, but he always had hope. Certain guild members taught him to never lose hope.

Just as he put another unsuccessful book on the shelf, one landed on the ground next to him. His red eyes stared at the object for a little bit before he bent down, and lifted the thick, heavy book. Seeing that it was a book about the Gods him and his people worship, he quickly walked over to his desk in the library, and slammed the book down. He soon sat down in his large chair, and turned the cover to start getting the information he needs.

He ran a hand through his dark red hair, and sighed as he continued to research the events, sightings, difference of the physical world, and more. His mind was absorbing everything he was reading, but he still found nothing. His lightly tan skin had sweat running down everywhere; however, he felt his body freeze when he turned to the next page.

A whole chapter was about what was happening; to the different color sky, to the animals changing, to people going missing - it was all there. If the prince was going to be honest, he did not like what he was reading.

There was a disturbance with the Gods, and with the balance of good and evil. The book didn't tell him which Gods it may be, but he figured he would figure it out as time continues.

He flipped through the book once more to try to find a solution to everything, but to his horror, there was none; in fact, there was never a problem like this before. He blinked a few times as the problem sunk in, with his heart beating against his ribcage as the seconds ticked by.

"Come on!" The prince yelled as he slammed the book shut, his hands trembling as he rested them against the wooden desk.

He knew that he couldn't solve everything on his own, so having allies with him while going through everything would be a necessity. As he walked out of his study to go and get ready to transport himself to Fiore, he stopped in his tracks as he thought about two things.

One, he is too well known throughout his kingdom, and facing the problem will make him be spotted. As much as he would like to solve and stop whatever is coming, he knows that he will never get it done if spotted; therefore, he would have to get two very willing people to do it for him, with him helping them along the way.

Two, he already knows the two best type of people for this type of quest, and if he gives a handsome award, he knows one will be up for doing it. The only problem that faces this is will the two get along? With a past of fighting each other, things are bound to get a little tense. Nonetheless, things had to be done, and he hoped they understand that.

The prince was able to get himself back in motion, and flew by everyone in his castle. Just as he was at the entrance to the large, white castle, a guard called out to him.

"Prince Dan, where are you going?" He called.

Dan Straight, or the prince, turned around and flashed the guard one of his million jewel smiles; to add a touch to it, he gave the older man a thumbs up.

"I'm about to save my kingdom!" Dan exclaimed as he ran out the palace doors, and opened up a portal to take him to the other world, the world that would lead him to Fiore.

 **It has been a while since I last wrote, and I hope this came out good; therefore, please feel free to correct mistakes and inform me of what I can do better.**


	2. A Request for a Snake

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back. For those who have already followed and added this story as their favorite, thank you! The support really helps.**

 **Fairy Tail does not belong to me, but it belongs to its creator, Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Two:**

A Request for a Snake

The night sky was absolutely brilliant; the stars were shinning bright, and the moon gave off a light that could let anyone see for miles. The wind blew just slightly during the warm night, giving off a nice, cooling breeze. The trees swished around them, and the animals were active all around the forest.

A medium size group of travelers could be spotted hanging around the middle of the forest, and circled around a fire that illuminated the little opening they were camping in. Small chatting could be heard among the members while some just listened to the conversation, and one was getting changed in her tent.

These independent mages were from the independent guild, Crime Sorciere, or the guild made up of mages who used to be Dark Mages. Now they're doing their best to correct their past, repent their sins, and stop the dark wizard from rising once more.

The newest members in Crime Sorciere, the old members of Oracion Seis, are now apart of the guild with the same goal as the three original founders. All of them slowly integrated themselves in with the two founders that are left. The original leader was killed by his adopted son before the two members of Crime Sorciere found them. Brain was his name, and he wanted them as his pawns, but none of them were pleased by this truth. Content with the choice of joining Crime Sorciere, they felt at peace.

One member of Crime Sorciere listened to the world around him with his enhanced hearing; in fact, all of his senses are enhanced. He could hear an Owl making noise a few yards to their west, and he could hear the prancing of a small herd of deer trotting through the woods to their south. He could also hear all of the member's thoughts, and he smirked at some that were not said with his sharp canines showing from under his lips. Even with only one black eye with a black slit as his pupil, he could easily see the world around him; a scar is running vertically down his right eye.

He leaned back against the tree stump he found when they entered this part of the forest, and rested his hands behind his head after he moved a hand through his spiky, upward-style, maroon hair. He closed his one eye as he let out a sigh of content, making the other members turn to look at him with understanding glances. Like him, they were beat from taking down another dark guild connected to the Evil Wizard, Zeref. For now, they could relax.

The leader of Crime Sorciere, Jellal Fernandez, walked back into camp with his cape blowing behind him, and blue hair blowing over his brown eyes that were searching over the other members of the independent guild. When he found an open spot near the fire, he sat down on the grass, and watched the fire crackle before him in deep thought. He then moved his eyes away from the fire to look at the one-eyed member resting against the stump, with the reflection of the fire dancing off his dark tan skin.

"Cobra, is there anything or anyone I missed when searching the perimeter?" Jellal finally asked him, but when he saw the said person smirk, he felt a little annoyed that he didn't say anything before he asked.

Cobra just smirked to himself when he heard all the questions go through Jellal's head until he finally picked one.

"There is nothing that my senses can pick up," Cobra finally answered, hearing his comrades voices become silent. "As of right now, we're the only humans in the forest,"

Although Jellal just nodded his head and thanked him, Cobra could clearly see that something was bothering the leader and co-founder of Crime Sorciere. Therefore, he did the logical thing, which is to act as if he is trying to fall asleep, but is actually trying to get into the thoughts of the blue haired man.

Cobra could find many thoughts going through Jellal's head. He is still upset about all the sadness and destruction he caused in his past, to how he misses and wishes to see Erza Scarlet before they go off to destroy another dark guild, and how he is concerned about the fact that Zeref could always rise into power. Hearing all the thoughts gave the maroon haired wizard some respect for the leader, but also understanding of where all his worries come from; they all come from a past that is connected with darkness and the evil wizard.

Then he found a thought going through the leader's head that made his ears twitch a little. Jellal felt a magical presence in the forest as he searched the perimeter, and he had trouble identifying whether it was good or bad.

As Cobra opened his one eye back up, it locked with Jellal's eyes and stayed there. Jellal had a look that Cobra knew all too well. He then heard the thought directed at him, and Cobra nodded with understanding.

 _Stay on guard, Cobra, for someone is near, but not making his presence known_. Jellal thought.

Just as the two men's eyes tore away from each other, a female voice entered everyone's ears as she exited the tent she was changing in. Meredy walked out of her tent with her long, wavy pink hair in two braids going down her shoulders, and green eyes looking bright. She plopped herself down next to Jellal, and greeted everyone with a smile.

"It's getting late, you guys," She exclaimed as she leaned back on her hands. "I suggest hitting the hay if we don't want to get caught by any of the Magic Council's soldiers,"

As much as the old Oracion Seis members hated being told what to do, they knew the young girl was right, and they didn't want anything to do with the Magic Council.

Each member sighed and stood, and got all their sleeping gear ready for bed around the little opening in the forest.

Cobra grabbed his pack, threw it over his shoulder, and started to walk towards an area that isn't far away from their source of heat. Jellal, however, stood up next to the other member, and the ex Oracion Seis member stopped right next to him. Their shoulders were aligned perfectly, and the two titled their heads only a little to face each other. Cobra felt Jellal put his left hand on his shoulder, and noticed his words that were only meant for him to hear.

"Stay on your toes."

Cobra just smirked and nodded towards his leader, and slowly walked away when Jellal took his hand off his shoulder.

Jellal, looking a little more serious, walked past the other Crime Sorciere members towards his tent. After Jellal entered the tent, Cobra looked over at him one last time before lying down on his sleeping bag for the night.

 _Crack!_ Is the sound a pair of ears picked up in the middle of the night, making one eye shoot right open.

The material of a sleeping bag fell onto a man's lap as his upper body shot right up, and his eye scanned the surrounding area.

The members of Crime Sorciere were still fast asleep in their sleeping bags and tents, and the fire died down into the embers, giving very little light in the opening. All around him the nocturnal animals were moving around, and making noise in the background. Fireflies were busy flying around the forest, creating little dots of light in the area. On any other night, Cobra would have stayed up to see nature at its best, but not this night.

Something, or someone, is wondering around his guild's campsite.

Slowly, but very surly, Cobra got out of his sleeping bag, and stood up. His average height could be seen as the fireflies flew around him, but no one could hear him as he moved around the outline of their campsite. His eye bore into the forest as he searched for the intruder near them; his nose could only pick up one scent, and it smelled vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't place it.

He knew that Jellal was right when he heard something fly behind him, creating wind filled with the intruder's scent. He breathed it all in, and he moved stealthily as he followed the intruder. His one eye then turned to look at the place where the scent stayed, and landed on a shadowy figure standing a few yards away from the campsite.

It was a man, not much taller than he was, and the outline of his hair could be seen as the wind picked up again. Cobra saw him turn his head to look right at him, and the Crime Sorciere member felt himself stop right in his tracks as he watched a single piece of parchment paper fall onto the ground, barely making a noise.

Just like that, the man then vanished from Cobra's vision.

The independent mage could only blink his eye as the man vanished, leaving only the piece of paper; however, something inside him told him to go and investigate what was left behind.

He walked the few yards away from the campsite, stood right where the intruder stood, and looked down at the parchment paper on the ground. He bent down and picked the paper up with one hand, and the paper slowly crimpled in his one hand as he scanned the words on the paper.

His eyebrow raised when he figured out it was a request.

 _Creatures along with dark spells have disturbed my land, and people keep going missing. Please, help me put a stop to the terror that is rising. Meet me in Hargeon in a few days for more information, and be prepared to work with another wizard._

 _Reward: 100,000 Jewels_

Cobra inspected the paper once more, front and back, and saw no picture or name to help him find who sent this; moreover, he wanted to know why the person sent it out here in forest located near the old Rosemary Village, and how he knew there are people.

Cobra's eye found the reward, and his interest was peaked even more, but he inverted his eye to look at the request information once more. Now reading it over with a clearer mind, it dawned on him that this is a request for help.

While Cobra was busy scanning the request, Jellal entered the campsite, and spotted the other member a few yards away reading a piece of paper. As Crime Sorciere's leader walked towards the other member, he saw him just glance at him before holding out the piece of paper towards him.

"Jellal, you were right," Cobra told him as Jellal took the piece of paper from his hand. "There was someone wondering around the forest, and he did enter the campsite while we were all sleeping,"

Jellal looked up from the piece of paper, and looked at Cobra with raised eyebrows. "He? Did you see what he looked like?"

Cobra shook his head. "No, but his scent is familiar to me… I just can't place it…" He started to become frustrated with how he couldn't put the scent with the person.

Jellal saw his comrade's frustration, and gave him an understanding look before reading over the piece of paper once more. His eyes slowly widened as he read over the request, and looked over it to see if there is a name or picture. He did know, however, that this request wasn't something to be ignored.

Cobra just stared at the leader as he just crossed his arms over his chest, and started to organize Jellal's thoughts in his own head.

"You want me to do the request?" Cobra asked, looking at Jellal with his one eye wide.

Jellal stared at the man surprised since he is still not used to the man reading his thoughts, but nodded his head nonetheless.

"This request cannot be ignored, for the person still found out where we are, and for the fact that it could possibly true," Jellal informed Cobra. "It also seems that the man knew you would be the one to find it, and there is a reason why. It appears that he knows you, too," Jellal put a hand on his chin as he thought about the request some more, and Cobra stood there listening to him. "Do the request, get the information out of the person who sent it, and report back when done. It could be of importance to all of us,"

Cobra nodded his head, understanding his orders.

"And please, keep the identity of Crime Sorciere a secret. We do not want other people sending us requests, and alerting the Magic Council," Jellal quickly added, looking at the wizard next to him with a stern look. "If I were you, Cobra, I would head out tonight. Rosemary Village to Hargeon is a long distance to travel,"

Cobra just nodded his head once, walked over to his sleeping bag and army sack, and started to pack everything up quickly, but also silently to not wake everyone up. Jellal followed close behind him, and stood there as he watched his comrade finish packing everything.

Cobra lifted up his cloak, swiftly put it on, and put his hood up once everything was in place. Lastly, he lifted his army sack up, and put the strap over his shoulder. He turned to look at Jellal, who just patted him on the back with a determined gaze.

"Stay safe out there, Erik," Jellal told him using his real name. "I'll also inform the others of what is going on," He also added, handing him the request paper, which Cobra took.

The Poison Dragon Slayer folded the request paper, and safely put it in his pocket. He was never really one for thanking verbally, so he nodded at Jellal as he started to walk away from the Crime Sorciere campsite.

Jellal watched his comrade walk through the forest until he slowly became a shadow, and then disappear from his sight. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and scanned the campsite once more before heading back into his tent for the night.

 **Cobra, or Erik, has been introduced into the story at last, and now we will move on to everyone's favorite Celestial Spirit mage in the next chapter.**

 **Is Cobra too in character, or is he too out of character? Please, leave a review to let me know what I need to change. Also, help with spelling and grammar would nice. If you enjoyed the chapter, and want to continue reading it, please review, favor, and follow. Have a wonderful day or night, everyone!**

 **Coming soon** :

 **Chapter Three: A Request for a Star**


	3. A Request for a Star

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back. For those who have already followed and added this story as their favorite, thank you! Keep up the support, everyone.**

 **Fairy Tail does not belong to me, but it belongs to its creator, Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Three:**

A Request for a Star

A sigh escaped the lips of a young woman as she walked up the steps to her apartment as she went through the keys she owns. No, they were not her celestial keys, but the keys used for her apartment. Things were going through the young woman's mind as she ran a hand through her long, blonde hair as her large, round brown eyes landed on the correct keys.

Her and her team went to Oshibana Town to take care of a group of thugs who kept stealing the town's trains, and who eventually took over the town's train station. At first, everything was going according to plan; they caught and tied up the thugs, and they had the leader right where they wanted him. This is when things went wrong.

The leader started to taunt her best friend, Natsu Dragneel, and all the words got to the Fire Dragon Slayer. Her friend is already short tempered and prone to having outbursts, but when the leader made fun of her, the team, and then Fairy Tail… All she could say is that Natsu ended up burning down the train station in the process. Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's own Titania, tried to calm him down, but ended up destroying a few buildings in the process. Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's Ice Mage and stripper, and Happy, Natsu's flying cat, tried to put out the fire while she, the Celestial Spirit Mage of Fairy Tail, or Lucy Heartfilia, went after the leader. In the end, it turned out the leader knew some ice magic, and froze her just as she was about to catch him.

After everything was said and done, the mayor of Oshibana yelled at them when they went to his office; in fact, this also ended with them not getting any sort of payment even after they caught most of the thugs, which is what Lucy was expecting. It didn't even end there.

Once they got back to the guild, Master Makarov Dreyar scolded them for making the Magic Council angry at the guild once more, how he has to fill out a whole bunch of paper work, and then apologize to both the mayor of Oshibana and Magic Council for what was done.

Now Lucy is at her apartment dreading the time when her rent is due, for she is just a few thousand jewels short. She is trying to find all the possibilities of getting the right amount of jewels before her rent, and the right amount of jewels for other necessities. She just sighed when she found the right key to open up her front door, and got in position to put the key in the keyhole.

Yet her door opened on its own when she accidentally hit the doorknob.

Lucy's eyes just stared for a few seconds before fear started to course through her veins. She knew that Natsu and Happy wouldn't visit her now since they are tired from the request, and her two other teammates usually don't enter her house without her permission… sometimes. Then the logical answer entered her head as she silently walked through her threshold, and that is _intruder_.

She rested her hand on her Fleuve d'etoiles, and silently closed the door right behind her. She figured if her magical whip didn't work, she would just give the person one of her famous Lucy Kicks. As she walked through her house, she listened carefully to everything around her, and kept her focus on what she was doing. She heard a quiet rumbling in her room, and she started to make her way over to where the noise is coming from.

As she approached her room and leaned her back against the wall, she took her Fleuve d'etoiles out of its holder while magic started to slowly flow to the magical whip. She peaked inside her room, and saw some movement near her drawer. From the back of the person, who was wearing a dark cloak, she could tell that it was a man. As she moved more towards the doorway, she saw a hint of dark red hair, and started to think about a person she met a while ago; however, that person's appearance and name slipped her mind.

She now had her hand gripping her magical whip as she was about to step into her room, but when the person turned to look at her, he quickly ran across her room and jumped out her window. She gasped, ran towards the window, and looked down at the street below her.

No one was there.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and started to climb down from her bed. When the first foot hit the floor, she slipped on something, and landed right on her back.

"Typical!" She yelled as her back hit the ground, and looked at the ceiling after her breath was knocked right out of her.

She leaned forward, and rubbed the spot on her back that hit the wooden floor first. When she was able to properly breathe again, she scanned the area to see what she slipped on, and her eyes landed on a single piece of parchment paper. She stopped rubbing her back as she cursed to herself about how a bruise will form on her fair, creamy skin, and switched positions to get on her hands and knees to crawl over to the piece of paper. She did exactly that, and moved to sit on her bed as she turned the piece of paper to find any writing.

In the middle of the paper are words written in the most beautiful script she has ever seen; every letter looked like a masterpiece of its own entity. Before looking over the words, she found no name or picture on the piece of paper. _That's odd._ She thought as she finally looked at the words once more. _I will never get over this script_ …

 _Creatures along with dark spells have disturbed my land, and people keep going missing. Please, help me put a stop to the terror that is rising. Meet me in Hargeon in a few days for more information, and be prepared to work with another wizard._

 _Reward: 100,000 Jewels_

Lucy gasped as she kept reading over the quest. The person who sent her this request is in dire need of help, and it seems that they need it fast. Working with another wizard doesn't bother her, for it might be someone from Fairy Tail who could have gotten the same request. If not, she can deal with the other wizard. She thought that it is even better that the reward is higher then a regular request, meaning she can get enough money to help pay her rent and other necessities.

"I'll have to inform Master," Lucy whispered to herself as she quickly got off her bed, but stopped when she looked out the window.

It is already nighttime, and the stars were shinning brilliantly as the moon's light lit up Magnolia. It was then when she figured that telling Makarov about the request would have to wait until tomorrow, and that she needs to get ready to go on this venture. Looking down at the request once more, she sighed, and moved it over to her desk where she keeps her writing utensils. She placed it right on top of the book she is working on, and turned to her closet to get everything ready for going on this request.

The Fairy Tail building was busting with energy the next day when Lucy arrived, and she greeted everyone as she walked in with her backpack all ready for the request. Mirajane Strauss, the She Devil herself, smiled as she served the members their orders of food, drinks, and different types of alcohol. Cana Alberona, Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker and Gildarts Clive's daughter, is already on her third barrel of wine, and Elfman Strauss, younger brother to Mirajane and older brother to Lisanna Strauss, is challenging Gray to see who the manlier man is.

All of this made Lucy smile as she walked up to Makarov Dreyar, a short and powerful old man who always gave his "kids" wisdom, advice, and much more when it was needed.

Makarov smoked as he held a pint of beer in his hands, watching over everyone in the guild do their own thing, and a little smile is seen gracing the old wizard's lips. He remembered how all the young adult wizards were just young children when they became apart of Fairy Tail, and he felt honored to watch all of them grow into who they are. He had a feeling that the future of Fairy Tail is going to be a promising one.

He finished smoking his pipe, and took a swig of his beer when he saw the Celestial Spirit Mage walking over to him with a bag over her shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at her, but figured it all out when he saw a piece of paper in her hands. He knew then that it is a request she wanted to do; however, it surprised him even more when he didn't see Natsu or Happy with her. He remembers how she mentions occasionally about wanting to go on jobs alone, but some people were just too nosy. He would feel bad when Natsu or Happy tagged along, but he knew that she is at least - somewhat - safe. It swelled him with pride seeing how she was able to get away from the duo to go out on her own.

Lucy silently dropped her bag on the ground next to the stool she wanted to sit on, and looked around the guild. She looked for any sign of the Fire Dragon Slayer or the Annoying Flying Cat to come up behind her, and want to tag along. She loved the two of them, but she wanted to do a request by herself. Seeing that everyone is doing his or her own thing, she let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on the chair next to the guild master.

"I see you finally found a request, Lucy," Makarov told her as he took another swig of beer.

Lucy laughed a little as she laid the piece of paper down on the bar in front of her. "Found isn't the right word, Master,"

Makarov raised a curious eyebrow at her. "Then how did you get it if it didn't come from the request board?"

Lucy laid both her arms down on the bar, and laid her head down as well. "Some guy broke into my apartment, and left it there," She answered as she pushed the request towards Makarov. "It also sounds urgent, and I want to help this person,"

Makarov lifted up the request paper just as noise in the guild went up a few notches, making both him and the Celestial Spirit Mage look over towards the crowd of people surrounding a couple of tables. Wakaba Mine already had too much to drink, and is dancing like a belly dancer on one of the tables, with Macao Conbolt recording the whole thing with a lacrima. Guild members were all around the tables cheering and whistling as the older mage continued to dance.

As far as Lucy is concerned, she is positive that she'll never get that image out of her mind, and the same could be said about Makarov; Wakaba isn't doing the best job, too. The two then looked away, and focused on the subject at hand.

Makarov read over the piece of paper carefully, and even tried to find a picture or a name, yet something was telling him that this request is as real as any other. He sighed as he made a noise when he went deep in thought, and slowly handed Lucy back the request paper.

"It is real. There is no use in denying that, child," Makarov informed her, and Lucy nodded her head enthusiastically while thinking, _I already knew that!_ "However, it is a little concerning about how this person was able to get inside your home. By any chance, did you recognize him?

"He did seem familiar,"

"Then there is a chance you know each other from somewhere," Makarov wondered, trying to remember if there has been any male mage Lucy brought to the guild for everyone to meet; in fact, there hasn't been one. "Are you okay working with another mage, even if there is a chance you don't know him or her? No one from our guild has gotten this request," He informed her.

Lucy lifted her head up, clearly surprised that no one else got the request. There is a part of her that was hoping for it, and she will gladly go with anyone in this guild, even if it came down to it being Bickslow or Nab Lasaro. Then again, ever since she entered Fairy Tail seven years ago, she has been up for new adventures, so in a way an unknown partner works out well for her.

Lucy sat up straight, and gave the master a determined gaze that couldn't be broken. "I'm perfectly fine if someone else is going, and if the person doesn't show up, I'll gladly go alone," She declared, her determined gaze becoming harder. "I want to help this person,"

Makarov sighed, feeling happy that his little Lucy is determined to do the right thing. Though Lucy hasn't been in Fairy Tail as long as the other members, she truly has become a daughter to him, and he is proud of how she has grown. He came up with his decision as he let the girl's words sink in.

"Lucy, you have grown in many ways, and for that, I'm so proud of you," Makarov told her, and she looked up at him with a wonder filled gaze. "You may go on this request, for I believe that there is reason why you were chosen for this. Go, and stay safe, my child,"

Lucy's smile couldn't be brighter after Makarov told her she can go, and she stood up right up while throwing her bag over her shoulder. She embraced the guild's master for a quick second before kissing his check, and started speed walking over to the door, so she can be on her way to Hargeon.

Makarov just chuckled to himself, and continued to drink his beer. Once again, he looked over at the tables where the commotion is going on, and paled when he saw a drunken Jet now join Wakaba in what appears to be a type of ballroom dance. He shook his head, praying to Mavis that it will somehow turn out okay with the two drunken buffoons, but also for keeping Lucy safe on her request.

"Going on a request, Lucy?" Mirajane's sweet voice asked the Celestial Spirit Mage as she walked by, feeling proud of how she is going alone.

"Yes, and I'll see you when I get back!" Lucy called over her shoulder, and giving the She Devil a wave with her hand adorning the pink Fairy Tail symbol.

What Master Makarov also didn't know is Lucy is going on this request to get her pair of stolen underwear back from the man who broke into her apartment.

 **Our shining star has entered the story, and she is quite determined to do this one, isn't she? Let us see her reaction when she finds out who her partner is. Hopefully I can pull this off…**

 **If everyone is enjoying the story so far, please favor and follow this story to see more updates coming your way! If you also like me as an author, please favor and follow me, too, for more stories you might be interested in. If there is something you would like to say, correct, or just be nice, leave a review. The support really helps, everyone, and will keep me coming back to keep writing.**

 **I would also like to apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes.**

 **Coming up next in** _ **The Cursed World**_ **:**

 **Chapter Four: A Meeting in Hargeon**


	4. A Meeting in Hargeon

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back. Enjoy the new chapter, and I apologize for it being late. I'm working on a new story right now, and I'll have to go back and forth when updating the both of them.**

 **If interested in reading a story about Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia, please go read** _ **The Pirates of Fairy Tail: Book One**_ **. This is an adventure, romance, action, and humor filled fan fiction, so please go check it out.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **does not belong to me, but it belongs to its creator, Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Four:**

A Meeting in Hargeon

A train whistle blew in the distance as Lucy stepped off the train from Magnolia, and she smiled while looking at the area around her. Hargeon has some great memories for the Celestial Spirit Mage, and she is thankful she came to this place when she did all those years ago.

Hargeon is where she met Natsu Dragneel, or her best friend who had her join her dream guild, Fairy Tail.

Just thinking about those times had Lucy rubbing her Fairy Tail insignia with her thumb as she started to walk towards the town. In her hand is the request that appeared in her room after the person broke in, and she read it over carefully to see where everyone is meeting up; however, it doesn't say where everyone is meeting.

This frustrated her as she walked down the stone streets of the well-kept harbor town, and her eyes soon fell upon the same magic store she visited seven years ago. It still hasn't changed, with the building still old looking with that little charm. With the knowledge of possibly finding a key in the store, Lucy smiled mischievously as she rushed into the store.

Even the inside is the same as the shelves displayed a lot of magic items as well as food, water, and other necessities. She turned her head to her left when she saw the cash register, and the same old man still in the same spot with the same look. Her eyes grew wide as she skipped over to the register, and placed her hands down on the counter, startling the old man.

He looked up at the young woman, and his eyes grew wide as he recognized her from somewhere, but the memory left his mind as he asked what she needed.

"I'm wondering if you have any celestial keys?" Lucy asked the man, and he shook his had no.

"The last one was sold a little while back, and we don't stock up on them anymore, Miss," The old man informed her, and she sighed as she looked down at the counter.

"Thank you, Sir…" Lucy whispered, disappointment filling the girl's veins as she exited the magic shop with her head down.

She is sad that her visit was short, but she knew she couldn't get distracted for long since she still has a request that needs to be taken care of. That's when she started to think of an appropriate spot for everyone to meet, and her eyes landed right on a small café not far from where she is walking. She stared at the café for a little bit until something in the back of her mind told her to go over there, and if there is one thing Lucy Heartfilia does it is following her gut.

She grinned as she started to make her way over to the small café, and gripped her backpack strap as she thought about what this request will entail.

~~~ **Cobra** ~~~

The smell of sea water, trains, and different scents from markets flooded Cobra's senses as he entered the border of Hargeon, and sighed as he thought about why he is going on a request in the first place; furthermore, he is wondering why he agreed with Jellal to do the request. He knew some of his guild mates would be a better choice to do a request like this; for example, Meredy, Angel, or Racer. He knew Jellal had his reasons, but Cobra still isn't happy about doing it either way.

He gripped his bag tighter as he walked into Hargeon, and looked everywhere around him in case he saw some Rune Knights, or any one who would recognize him. In his past he caused havoc in this town, but that was only once. Brain needed him to find something he deemed important, and figured he would be the best one to receive the item.

He heard the thoughts of a woman when he walked by her, and felt the sweat start dripping on his forehead when she thought she recognized him from somewhere. Thankfully, luck is on his side since she brushed it off as just another stranger visiting the town.

The life of an ex-criminal is a tough one.

He pulled his hood further down, so no one could see his eye or hair. He knew those features will give him away, but he figured that the town is so busy that people would just think they're imagining things. He also knew the hood would make him look more suspicious, but what other choice did he have?

While his own mind battled about whether he should leave his hood up or not, some scent hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew that scent very well, for he has battled against this person twice before. His breath got caught in his throat when the young woman came to mind, and he started to follow his nose to find her.

He followed his nose until he stopped across the street from a café. His keen eyesight spotted her right away, and he felt time slow down when he saw her hourglass figure sit down at a table outside the café. He felt himself blinking to get him back to reality, and started to inspect what she is doing.

Cobra's eyes followed her own eyes to a piece of parchment paper… a strangely familiar piece of parchment paper. His right hand started to travel down his cloak, into a pocket, and started to take out a piece of parchment paper. He unfolded the paper, and started comparing from where he is standing.

From where he is standing, he could tell that the pieces of parchment paper are the same.

Knowing he just found his partner on this request, Cobra started to make his way over to the girl who is sitting down at the table across from him.

~~~ **Lucy** ~~~

Lucy looked at the busy waiters when she sat down, and sighed when she saw no one coming towards her table. She knew this request sounds a little difficult, but she hoped that her partner didn't back out when he or she read it.

She let out another sigh when she heard someone walking towards her on her right, and she turned her head in that direction. Her eyes widened as she recognized the male walking towards her, but she didn't know where she has seen him before. As he came closer, she noticed him holding a piece of parchment paper in his right hand, and squinted her eyes to get a closer look.

When she saw the same beautiful script written on the piece of paper, she knew her partner is walking towards her, but she wondered why the person is wearing a cloak.

Lucy has always been one to inspect things, but when she saw the engravings on the cloak the person is wearing, she knew that this wizard belonged to Crime Sorciere; however, that male body didn't belong to the leader of the independent guild, Jellal Fernandez. His body is, in fact, slim yet muscular, and he isn't as tall as Jellal.

She froze when it all started to dawn on her, and her eyes started to travel up the man's body until they stopped at the young man's face hidden by the hood. _Why is he so familiar?_ She thought to herself, but to her surprise, she saw the male smirk down at her when he stood three feet from where she is sitting. Her eyes widened when she realized the man just read her thoughts, and that's when it all came crashing down on her.

She definitely knew this young man; in fact, the two have met on the battlefield a couple of times.

The young man put the parchment paper down next to her's, and she looked at it to confirm that this person is her partner. It was the same request, and she looked over at him once more.

He reached for his hood, and slowly started to take it off his head. Lucy saw the one eye permanently closed with the scar, and the one eye that is open; the one eye is holding a look for amusement, but it is also very calm. This is a look she remembers very well, especially when she had no use of escaping her almost death when Michelle was around. Then the hood was completely off, resting on his shoulders and upper back. She saw the spiky, maroon hair that almost resembled fire, but it looked like the poison he creates with his magic.

Standing beside her is none other than Cobra from the Oracion Seis, or an ex-criminal from the disbanded dark guild. She heard that the members of the Oracion Seis were let out of prison, and that they joined Crime Sorciere, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would come face-to-face with the members again. Yet here she is, looking at Cobra like she has seen a ghost.

Cobra went through the thoughts in her head, and his smirk grew even more as he took the seat across from her. She is confused as of why he was chosen for this request, and how she started to feel a little uncomfortable around him, but he didn't need to read minds to know that her body language displayed all of that already; however, something surprised him that made him have to re-check her mind to see if he heard that correctly.

She called him untrustworthy, which didn't surprise him, yet she also called him handsome at the same time. This caused him to stare at her with a wide eye from across the table, and Lucy started to fidget in her seat while she looked away from him.

Lucy did always find Cobra handsome, but knew it is the wrong choice to go after a criminal, even if he is a former one. She didn't know what to think about the request, but she knew she has to be wary of him; he did try to hill her twice. Sometimes thinking about the Poison Dragon Slayer made an unknown feeling enter her, but she just brushed it off, for she had other things going on with her heart.

After the Grand Magic Games ended she noticed Natsu acting weird around Lisanna Strauss, and felt a little heart broken when she realize what is happening to the Fire Dragon Slayer. She didn't let her hurt feelings get in the way of her friendship with the two mages. Instead, she decided if the two were to get together, she would give them one hundred percent support. Thinking like this did make her happy, and she is able to move on.

Now that Cobra is sitting across from her, she knew she had to organize her thoughts correctly, for she knew he is hearing her thoughts at this very moment. She knew he heard her call him handsome - it is written all over the Poison Dragon Slayer's face, but she still looked him in his eye as she pushed his request towards him.

"Hello, partner," Cobra said smirking, taking his request back, folding it, and putting it in his pocket once more.

He folded his arms over his chest as he looked at the young woman in front of him, reading her thoughts. He then noticed something different, and that is her thought patterns have changed. _What a smart girl…_ He thought to himself, with his smirk never leaving his lips once.

"Cobra," Lucy said calm, yet a little tense. "It's been a while…"

The Poison Dragon Slayer just nodded his head as his smirk died down, and just started at the girl with a hard gaze. "So it has."

The two mages just continued to stare at each other for a few moments until a person approached the two of them, making both of them turn to look at the person. Both their eyes widened when they realized who is standing right next to them.

Next to them was none other than Dan Straight, or the knight who fought against both Fairy Tail and the Reborn Oracion Seis. He smirked down at them, and stole a chair from a table that was empty. He sat down in it, quickly moving his cloak to sit down properly, and rested his elbows at the table. Cobra just gave him one of his glares, and Lucy just blinked at him, not sure what to do or say.

"I see you two got my request," Dan brought up right away, never taking his eyes off Lucy and the waitress walking around. "Thank you for accepting it!" He added cheerfully, now focusing his gaze right on Lucy.

"You're the one who trespassed Crime Sorciere's campsite?" Cobra asked with a small growl, and his glare darkening. "No wonder why I thought you smelled familiar," He growled as he remembered the Key of the Starry Sky event.

"You broke into my apartment, and stole my underwear!" Lucy screeched, with her face turning a shade of red. "Give it back!"

Dan dug through his cloak's pockets until he pulled out Lucy's underwear, twirling around the red lacy undergarment shaped like a bikini bottom. He then held the front of it towards him, looking at the small red bow attacked to the underwear with his eyes becoming filled with hearts.

"My darling Lucy, but it was all in the name of L-O-V-E," Dan spelled out as he gave her a flirtatious smile, and Lucy snatched her underwear from his hands.

Lucy quickly shoved the underwear in her backpack, and glared at the knight sitting right next to her. Across the table she can hear Cobra snickering at the scene in front of him, clearly enjoying himself.

"There is no love here," Lucy informed him, pouting as she crossed her arms over her busy chest.

Dan still smirked, but then it turned serious. This caused the two mages to give him their full attention at the change of character, and the two sent each other a look, knowing this isn't like him.

"Before I take you where you need to go, I need to know something," Dan whispered to the two of them, making him and Lucy lean forwards, but Cobra rested his back against the chair, for he can hear them fine. "Do you both want to commit yourselves to this request?"

Lucy didn't need to think twice since he still needed her help, and a Fairy Tail mage never lets anyone down, so she nodded her head a couple of times to confirm that she is still doing the request. Cobra, however, grunted as his agreement since he remembers the orders Jellal gave him before he left a few days ago.

Dan smiled at the two mages as he stood up from his seat, and put the chair back at the table it came from. He motioned for the two mages to follow him, and he started to walk away from them. Lucy quickly gathered her things, and rushed over to the knight, walking behind him. Cobra calmly stood up from his seat, put his hood back up, and followed the two other people with his cape flowing behind him.

The three of them walked until they entered the forest near Hargeon, and walked a little deep into the forest until they were in a clearing. Dan then turned to face them, and as he smirked at the two mages, he lifted his right hand. With a snap of his fingers, a light circular object appeared before them. On the other side of the circular object they could see a castle, and they looked at the knight with curious eyes.

"Through this portal is where I need the two of you," Dan explained to them. "There, I will tell you everything you need to know. My world awaits the two of you, for your help is greatly needed. Follow me,"

Dan turned around, and started walking towards the portal with his head held high. He stepped through the portal, and disappeared into it. Lucy and Cobra looked at the portal, and saw him waving at them to follow him from the other side. Cobra looked down at Lucy when she started to walk towards the portal, and he raised his eyebrow at her when she entered the portal, appearing at the other side shortly after.

Cobra sighed and shook his head, wondering what he is getting himself in to, and walked towards the portal. Before entering, he looked around the forest to see if anyone is following them. When he saw and heard nothing, he then stepped through the portal.

Behind him, the portal closed, just leaving an empty opening in the forest.

 **Again, I apologize for it being late. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and continues to follow the story.**

 **I would like to thank the person who put this wonderful music compilation together. This was a difficult chapter for me to write, but I was able to do it thanks to this YouTube channel. If anyone is interested in hearing what I was listening to when writing this chapter, here is the link: watch?v=u36IGHpWUgg**

 **Please excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes, for my eyes missed them when reading it over.**

 **Coming Soon to The Cursed World:**

 **Chapter Five: Dan's World**


	5. Dan's World

**Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back. Enjoy the new chapter, and I apologize for it being late. I'm working on another story, and I'll have to go back and forth when updating the both of them. To top it off, my busy schedule started up again, so updating will be hard; however, give me time since I will still be updating.**

 **I will also not be around for ten days, so updating will become extremely hard. Whenever I get back on track, I will start updating more frequently.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **does not belong to me, but it belongs to its creator, Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Five:**

Dan's World

All Cobra and Lucy could feel when they entered through the portal into Dan's world is heat; extensive amount of heat that made them start sweating beads not even thirty seconds in. The heat is so bad that the two of them thought about stripping down to their undergarments just standing there, but in the presence of Dan, they knew better.

When the two mages opened their eyes, they had to quickly cover them. The sun's blinding rays made their eyes hurt immediately, for they weren't used to things this hot. They blinked their eyes a couple of times before focusing on the world before them, and they were both blown away from what is like. Lucy is more amazed than Cobra, for her eyes sparkled upon the beautiful architecture of the building in front of her while Cobra is merely impressed.

"Welcome to my world!" Dan exclaimed as he turned his body towards Lucy and Cobra, and extended both his arms. What put the icing on the cake is the look of happiness his facial features expressed.

The two mages just glanced at Dan before looking at the surrounding area. They could see the tan mountains in the background, but when they turned to look behind them, they saw a large gap in the mountains, which lead out to a desert. The ground mainly consisted of luscious green grass, but sand is spotted further away from the palace. Palm trees were scattered all about, and some coconuts are growing on them, too. They gently swayed in the semi-warm breeze, and the mages moved their eyes to a couple of ponds close to the palace.

The palace is nothing like they've seen before. It is the tallest thing imaginable, and it is made out of the whitest limestone. It sparkled in the sunlight, and the walls had square columns connecting to a cover area. There are dents in the palace, yet it gave it a shape that could only be described as unique. From where Lucy and Cobra were standing, they could see the big, light wooden doors leading inside the palace. The palace is also wide, making it bigger than any mansion Lucy has ever seen. In front of the palace is a large set of stairs, making the girl nervous about walking up them. All together, it is magnificent, and fit for royalty.

Cobra turned to look at Dan with his eye looking at him in wonder, but he knew something the knight isn't telling him since he was able to read his mind.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the _prince_?" Cobra questioned, feeling a little annoyed at Dan, but is able to keep his body language and facial expression calm.

"What?" Lucy questioned with wide eyes.

Dan just grinned, and motioned for the two to follow him. When the two mages were on both sides of him, he started walking with them in step.

"Correct, Cobra," Dan said, a grin still coating his lips. "I'm the prince of my world, and next in line for the thrown; however, I was supposed to be crowned a while back,"

"Then why weren't you?" Lucy asked, still taking everything in.

The person who claims to be in love with her turned out to be a prince… Now the poor girl feels bad for yelling at him. She turned to look at Cobra, who heard her thoughts, and he gave her a look. She just laughed nervously, and looked forward again.

Dan sighed next to them, and looked down at the ground with sad eyes. The three of them started to hike up the steps leading to the front entrance, but Lucy never took her eyes off the prince, unlike Cobra who just stared forward with his hands in his pockets. When Dan turned to look at Lucy, she felt a pain in her heart when she saw just how sad the knight looked, and could only guess what is holding them up from crowning him.

"I will explain it at the feast tonight," Dan told Lucy, but also turned to look at Cobra.

The Poison Dragon Slayer just glanced at him with his one eye, and his facial expression neutral; however, Dan noticed something in Cobra's eyes, and he knew that he understood the pain the prince is feeling from what happened. It is in that moment when Dan thought, _don't say anything_. Cobra did a little head nod, but Lucy just stood next to the two boys with a confused expression.

Lucy sighed to herself, figuring Cobra and Dan are getting along already. She glanced back at Cobra once more, and felt a little tiny fear in the pit of her stomach when she remembered what he did to her, including her friends; furthermore, she could tell something is changing the man. He isn't as cruel as he used to be, and for that, she is thankful. She even went as far as thinking that she is safe with him, but there is always that little voice telling her to still look out.

She then saw Cobra stare at her with his eye, meaning he heard what she thought, for she saw a hint of surprise glistening in it. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest, looked the other way, and started resting her weight on her right leg.

As Dan turned away from Cobra, the Poison Dragon Slayer chuckled to himself at how stubborn the girl is. _How amusing…_ He thought. When he saw Lucy turn to look at him again, he grinned right at her with a smirk she knows too well, making her turn away with a new shade of pink dusting her cheeks.

What stopped the two from looking at each other is the sound of two doors opening up, and they looked at Dan as he stood next to one of the open doors, with his arm extended inside the palace.

"I'll take you two my study, and I'll explain the mission there," The prince told them, and waited patiently at the door.

Lucy walked right into the palace as Cobra stood outside taking everything in, and then walked through the threshold.

The inside of the palace is magnificent; the walls are tan just like outside, but they were painted with different figures and symbols on different parts of the walls. What made them stand out is that some were half-animal and half-human, and some people had different colored skin. The ground is a white marble with blue tile in the middle of it, and had different gold patterns etched into it. Vases filled with roses are scattered around the palace, and the servants were rushing around getting ready for the feast later tonight.

In the middle of the large entrance room is a grand stair case leading up to another floor, and behind the staircase is another doorway leading out to another part of the palace. To the left and right were open hallways leading to other parts of the palace. The staircase itself is a work of art with the railings carved into shapes and patterns that look like vines, and the staircase is made out of white granite with gold flakes imbedded in it. The door behind the staircase is made out of wood just like the front door, but it had plants carved into the wood.

Dan closed the door behind the two mages, and watched them turn around to look at him at the same time. He walked between them, and started to head up the stairs with the two mages close at his heels. They noticed he is walking faster than usual as they reached the top of the staircase, and followed him as he turned to go down the left hallway.

"The right hallway is the rooms, which I or a butler will show you right before the feast," Dan quickly told them, and had them rush down the hallway until they entered a door to their right.

Dan closed the door silently behind him, and looked at the two mages as they took in the large study filled to the brim with books. In the middle of everything is a desk with papers scattered all around it; however, what made Dan smile a little is how Lucy's eyes sparkled when she looked around at all the books. He just shook his head when Cobra looked around bored. He knew the dragon slayer won't be seen much in the here.

"Can you now tell us why we're here?" Cobra asked him, making the prince look away from the celestial mage, for he wanted answers as of why he is here to begin with.

Dan nodded his head, and snapped his fingers as he walked past Lucy, snapping her out of her trance. He smiled in relief when the book he had a few days ago is still on his desk, and opened it up to a page all about the Gods and Goddesses in his world. Cobra walked to the front of the desk, and crossed his arms as he silently read the book in front of him. Lucy moved right next to Dan, and even smoothed out a page to read.

"My world is in deep trouble," Dan started off, making the two mages stare at him with knowing eyes. "I'm pretty sure you figured that out already, though," He quickly added when he noticed the dragon slayer's annoyed expression.

"No shit," Cobra muttered, with Lucy shooting him a look right after he said that.

He just raised his eyebrow at her, and waited for Dan to continue.

Dan ignored Cobra's comment, and continued to explain. "My people have been going missing in certain cities and towns, and lands that were once fertile are now barren. Animals are turning into mummy and skeleton creatures, and soldiers are turning into skeleton warriors at the least expected moments. To top this all off, this never happened in my world's history before, so no one knows how to fix this," He took a moment to see if the two wizards are listening, and to his relief, they were. "I've done research to see if something - _anything_ is written down about this, but to my disappointment, I've found nothing,"

Lucy hummed as she thought about the little information Dan just gave her and Cobra, and she moved her right hand to rest on her chin as she thought about it. Her eyes skimmed the study before stopping on the open book, and read the title of the chapter.

"It appears your world has multiple Gods and Goddesses," She pointed out. "Do you have an idea if it is related to them?"

Cobra looked at Lucy for a split second before looking back at Dan, who is now in deep thought; in addition, he could hear everything that is going through the prince's mind. For once it isn't about how beautiful Lucy is, but how he badly he wants to save his people. This made the ex-criminal start to _slowly_ grow respect for him.

"I have every right to believe so," Dan answered Lucy, making the two mages straighten up when he mentioned that. "The Gods help keep balance in the world, and help myself and my people flourish. I believe there has been a disturbance between them, yet I don't think it is my people's fault. Everyone has been doing what they're suppose to over the few thousands of years, and justice is always served when something goes wrong,"

"Then why are we here? We are not part of this world, nor do we know anything about your Gods," Cobra pointed out, and started to grow frustrated.

"I needed people who have the skill and intelligence to solve everything, and stop everything before this world falls apart," Dan told them. "Lucy, you have the ability to solve anything you get your hands on, and the knowledge you possess is a huge advantage. Cobra, you do have intelligence and that is why you made it as a criminal for so long, but your magic and strength will bring us another advantage. Not to mention, you can read minds, and will be able to know who is bad and who is good,

"I, on the other hand, will help guide you two through everything. Since I am the prince I'm too recognized, and will have much more difficulty going against the problem. We are essentially a team, with each building off the other. I have learned from a certain guild that teamwork gets a lot done," Dan finished explaining the first part of Cobra's statement, but he also sent Lucy a thankful look when he mentioned Fairy Tail.

Lucy softly smiled at him, and looked down at the pink Fairy Tail insignia on the back of her right hand. She loves her guild so much, and is proud to represent them outside of Ishgar - outside their own world.

"I need the two of you to stay here in my palace until some scouts I sent out come back," Dan explained to them. "You'll be safe here in Memphis*, or the capital city of my world. Before they come back, I need you two to research the Gods to try and pin point who might be doing this. I can't do it because duty calls, so if one of you can do that, that'll be great,"

"Why did you send out scouts, and how many?" Cobra asked, curious with what is going on while Lucy is a little unsettled about the answer he may receive.

Dan sighed, and the two mages noticed how he gripped the desk. He looked down at the desk, and quickly went through the information in his head.

"The small town of Ur** was attacked by a small militia of skeleton warriors a few weeks back, and slaughtered a bunch of the townspeople," Dan explained, still looking at the desk. He heard Lucy gasp, and saw Cobra shift in his spot. "From the reports I've gotten back the people have been herded into a small castle built by an unknown person, yet I don't know what they're doing to the people behind those castle walls. I sent out six of my best scouts to see what is going on, and report back to me,

"When the scouts come back is when you two will be sent out and I'll help you to the best of my abilities while I stay in Memphis," Dan informed them. "But until then, we have a feast tonight where more will be explained, and time to research some things,"

Cobra just nodded, and Lucy looked at Dan with a concerned look in her eyes. The two mages can clearly see the attack at Ur is a blow to the prince, and that he is genuinely worried about his people. For all they know, there might have been attacks at other towns before this one, or maybe this is the start of more to come. Either way, they knew he has a lot to do before the six scouts come back.

It is during this silence when the door opened up, and a small man with a hunched back walked into the room, looking timid as his eyes looked at the two mages with the prince. His skin is ashen white, and his slicked back black hair went down a little past his shoulder blades. He had thick black eyeliner going around his eyes, and his face is small with a large nose sticking out. His charcoal colored eyes looked between Lucy and Cobra, and he bowed respectfully to the three powerful people in front of him. The two mages noticed how thin the man is, and wondered if he is in good health. He wore simple brown sandals and red clothes over his tiny frame.

"Kek, what is the matter?" Dan asked with authority, surprising both the Celestial Mage and Poison Dragon Slayer.

"Your advisor seeks your presence," Kek informed him with his timid, high pitched, and croaky voice. "It is urgent," He added.

Dan nodded his head, and looked at the two mages. "I will see you later tonight. I will send a servant to help you get ready for tonight's feast. Until then, my friends."

Dan followed Kek outside his study, and left the two mages to do work; however, Cobra just stared at the door where the two people exited, feeling an emotion he hasn't felt since he was a kid in the Tower of Heaven: fear. One of his magical abilities didn't work on Kek, and this frightened the mage. He knew that this ability works on every single person, but not Kek. His breathing became irregular, his jaw clenched, and his one eye became wide as he thought about what happened.

Lucy noticed Cobra looking at the door with an expression she's never seen before, and suddenly felt worried about the man. She slowly walked up to him as if he is a wild animal that will strike at any moment if not careful, and gently rested her right hand on his shoulder. This caused the Poison Dragon Slayer to look at her, and she saw him start to calm down a little. His body started to loosen up, and his breathing went back to normal.

"Cobra, want to help me look for some information?" Lucy asked him, and she saw him nod his head when he looked away from her.

She took her hand off his shoulder as he started to walk towards the bookcases in Dan's study, and sighed as she wondered what mess the two of them walked into.

 **Here is the next chapter, and I'm so sorry if this one is boring. I'm trying not to rush the story, and I want things to progress they way it's supposed to. I hope that everyone did enjoy this chapter, and I promise the next one will be more entertaining.**

 **Well, I'm always up to learning something new, so please let me know if some things about my writing need to change. I also apologize about spelling and grammar mistakes, for those escaped my eyes when reading it over.**

 ***Memphis: The ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, or the first Nome in Lower Egypt.**

 ****Ur: An important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia. In ancient times, it was a large city, but due to the needs of this story, I condensed it to a town.**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World**_ **:**

 **Chapter Six: A Feast and a Meeting**


	6. The Feast and a Meeting

**Author's Note:** **Hey everyone! I'm back after almost a year of not updating. I sincerely apologize for it, and I hope this chapter makes up for it. Just remember that it has been a while since I last wrote, and my writing will be a little off. I re-read everything to catch up to speed, and I know where I left off. Enjoy!**

 **For those who have read the information post I put up I want to say this: thank you. I have been through a lot since I have last updated, and the support I gain means a lot. The information post is now deleted, and the poll will be up for another week due to it being a tie. Please go vote!**

 **That's all!**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Six:**

The Feast and a Meeting

Lucy sighed as she looked into the extravagant mirror in her room; it is rimmed in gold with a beautiful design that resembles a flowing river. Little flowers are scattered on the gold rim in random places.

The room she is staying in is magnificent with the carpet a beautiful maroon color with gold embedded in some of the designs. The more she looks at it the more she sees how the designs tell a story. She interprets the story as the resurrection of the major God in this world's mythology. It is beautifully done, and she knows that the person who made it spent a long time putting it all together. This made her admire it even more.

The king size bed takes up a good amount of room in her guestroom, and she is looking forward to finally sleeping in it tonight after she is done with the feast. The blankets are a beautiful plain red that is made of silk, and the white pillows are lined with a gold threading. There is a canopy over her bed that is black, with curtains blocking the three open sides to give her more privacy. The walls are a beautiful white tile with pictures hanging on them. The pictures are paintings of the royal family, or Dan's family. She can see that his hair color and eye shape has been passed down from generation to generation.

Not far from the bed is a wooden closet with an elegant, yet simple design. It stood out most in the room, with her clothes already inside it. Yet she got a strange feeling from that closet, like something is continually watching her. She has already summoned Leo to inspect it, but he said there is nothing to worry about. The feeling of being watched is now gone, but she knows there _was_ someone watching her before.

Lucy sighs as she stood up from the maroon cushioned stool, and stepped back from the mirror to get a good look at herself. She smiled softly as she moved around to make sure everything is in place. To her surprise it wasn't a butler who dropped it off to her, but Kek.

" _It is informal for a butler to drop off such a beautiful gown to a beautiful lady._ " Kek told her in his high-pitched, croaky voice. Something was off about it, for it had a more creepy tone to it. She also remembers the look his eyes, and it appears he is hiding something. She knows she is going to have to tell Cobra, or at least think it.

Her outfit for tonight's feast is something different from what she normally wears, and if she is being honest with herself, it makes her look sexy. She is wearing a two-piece mini-dress that is royal blue. The top part stops just a couple of inches below her breasts, with the top part adorned in a gold necklace styled as thin blocks. It rests evenly along her shoulders, enhancing her upper body. Her arms are bare except for the one gold bracelet resting on each upper arm in a snake-like design. Her wrists are covered with thick gold bracelets with a symbol that resembles the sun. She is wearing no rings on her fingers, but she has simple gold studs in her ears.

The bottom skirt is what Lucy fell in love with the most. The royal blue skirt is a little long in the back, stopping mid-thigh, but the front is shorter and cut out in an upside-down V. It rested beautifully on her hips, accentuating her figure even more as well as having her butt stand out, with a lightweight gold belt embedded in it. On her feet are sandals that have thin straps of leather traveling up her calf stopping right below the knee.

Lucy then looked in the mirror to examine her hair a little more, making sure everything is in place. Her hair has been left down and slicked back thanks to Cancer's amazing work. It showed off her jaw line and cheekbones beautifully, and made her eyes pop out. What is holding her hair in place is a simple gold headpiece.

Her smile grew as she looked into her own eyes in the mirror, and saw just how strong she has become since her meeting with Natsu Dragneel all those years ago. Now she is going to have to show this world what she is made of without the worry of anyone interfering with anything. Her arms moved to her hips as she gave herself a confident smile as she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.

She swiftly turned around with one hand resting on her head with the other resting on her side, and her hair falling perfectly on her back as she smiled and waved at Dan, who is dressed in his usual attire. Her eyebrow twitched as she thought about why he couldn't put on something nicer.

"Are you ready to head down, Lucy?" Dan asked her with his usual smirk, but Lucy can see the hearts starting to form in his eyes as he took in her appearance.

Despite Lucy feeling her eye twitch once more, she nodded her head and waltzed right up to him with her head held high. She knows that her years of being a debutant are about to come in handy during the feast.

"Where is Cobra?" Lucy asked Dan as the two walked side-by-side, her eyes glistening with curiosity and a little concern.

Dan chuckled as he folded his arms behind his back. "He is already down at the feast, Lucy. He is doing fine."

Lucy just nodded her head as she remembered how he was like earlier that day; frightened by something, yet he didn't tell her what it is. This made her concerned since he is usually a calm young man. Either way, she knows that he will tell her when the time is right… that is if he even tells her at all. With the past the two of them have, she knows that communication might be an issue for the two of them.

As the two neared the feast, they arrived at a two-sided staircase that leads up to two doors, which are the entrances to the feast. She noticed that the doors are made of solid gold with stones embedded in them as they gave off a design of some God. What made her start sweating is the sarcophagus right between the two doors. It is made out of iron and gold, with paint designs outlining a deceased person, or a family member of Dan. She is tempted to ask why they put one there, but she just continued up one of the staircases.

Lucy started to slow down as she noticed something else in the room. Her eyes squinted as she thought about what she is seeing, and saw another staircase leading down to a large blue door. Two guards holding axes are blocking it, their eyes suddenly meeting hers, and she started to walk right back up the stairs to catch up with Dan. _That room has some sort of power coming from it. That is too suspicious._ She thought to herself as she finally made it at the top of the stairs with Dan waiting for her.

He held out his left arm to her, and she gave him a suspicious look that also held a warning.

"What are you doing?" She asked with caution.

"Escorting a beautiful maiden into a room. After all, it is proper," He flirtatiously said to her as hearts filled his eyes.

"Propose to me and I'll break you nose." Lucy threatened, but took his arm anyway.

Dan nervously laughed as he dismissed the idea, and with Lucy at his side, the two walked over to the doors leading into the feast room. Lucy breathed in as a guard opened the door for the two of them, wishing them a happy time, and closed the door gently behind the two of them.

Lucy saw just how filled the room is with people from this world's upper class, and saw butlers, maids and chefs running around to get this place all ready. The room is so large that there is room to dance if people wished. She saw that the floor is made of a white marble with the walls a beautiful tan, and drawings encasing the walls of the many Gods and Goddesses. _These Gods have a major importance to these people._ She observed as she took in the large table filled to the brim with different types of food, drinks, and dishes for the night.

On the other side of the room there are four seats made out of solid gold resting upon an elevated space. They have red or blue cushions on them depending on the chair, giving them a look as if they are comfortable to sit in. They are in different shapes and sizes, with each representing a different figurehead. This amazed Lucy with how each of them are placed, and she wishes she can look more at everything, but trumpets going off made her come back down to reality.

Everyone remained silent as Dan lead her to the middle of the room, and all eyes locked onto the two of them. Lucy found herself feeling a little nervous and embarrassed, yet she kept her composure as the trumpets died down.

"Welcome Prince Dan to the table with one of his honorable guests, Lucy Heartfilia!" A servant announced with an excited tone. "However, the other one is right now missing," He announced in a mumble, but another servant approached him and quickly whispered in his ear. "Nevermind! The other honorable guest has already taken a seat by the Prince's chair. Let us all give them a warm welcome."

The guests started to clap as Lucy and Dan walked forward, with Lucy giving everyone a smile and wave. Despite feeling embarrassed, she inwardly thanked all of her training for keeping her composure, but she knows that a certain someone in this room is reading her thoughts and knows exactly how she feels.

She and Dan made their way past the guests as they walked to the other side of the room, and Lucy saw Cobra stand up from his chair with a disinterested expression. Yet when he saw her he smirked a little. Lucy kept her thoughts and emotions under control, yet she couldn't stop staring at the Poison Dragon slayer.

He is wearing tan pants that are loose at the bottom, but have a stitch-like pattern going up the sides of his pant legs, including where a belt should be. He isn't wearing a shirt, which exposed his muscular arms and torso for everyone to see, and he is wearing the same necklace she is wearing. He is wearing only one bracelet on his upper left arm that is shaped like a cobra, and the same gold bracelets on his wrists. He is wearing his normal black boots to the formal gathering, yet it seemed to flatter him even more.

She knows what she is thinking is wrong, yet she can't help thinking the one word in the back of her mind: _handsome_. He indeed looks handsome standing there with his arms crossed as he grinned at the two of them. Everything he is wearing complements him in some way, and she can only imagine what he is thinking about her as he is reading her mind. She can only guess what Cobra is thinking of her when he laid eyes upon her tonight, but she knows that it is going to be a mystery until he decides to tell her.

Lucy almost stopped in her tracks as she started to scold herself for wanting to know what Cobra thinks of her. Why does it matter to her what he thinks of her in this very moment? She held her head higher than before, letting go of Dan's arm as she stormed towards one of the extra seats next to Dan. She just nodded towards an amused looking dragon slayer as she took a seat, with her cheeks puffing out as she pouted.

Cobra sat down right beside her as he kept smirking at her, thinking to himself how amusing the Celestial mage is. He quickly took in her appearance as he straightened himself, and the two mages watched Dan sit down at chair at the head of the table.

Lucy straightened herself as Dan stood up from his seat with everyone following after him. She and Cobra exchanged a look before standing up themselves, and copied Dan's movement of picking up one the gold cups in front of them.

"To my parents, who are sadly no longer here with us tonight. Let us hope they will help lead us in this dark time in our world's history, and to watch and protect all citizens. To the King and Queen!" Dan announced, but Lucy noticed that there is sadness swimming in the prince's eyes.

Everyone repeated "to the king and queen", and sat down after Dan took a seat. Lucy turned towards Cobra with an agitated look in her brown eyes.

"You heard his thoughts about his parents being deceased, yet you didn't bother to tell me?" She asked rather annoyed, her nails hitting the table in a rhythm.

Cobra just stared at her with his one eye, not backing down. "He asked me to not say anything, Princess. I don't know how they died, but I know they are deceased."

" _Don't_ call me 'princess'." Lucy screeched, but then wanted to hide when some people turned to look at her. Next to her she can hear Cobra laugh a little, which made her more annoyed.

"Lucy, calm down. I will explain now if you want," Dan piped up, which made the two mages turn their attention to him. "A year and a half ago my parents passed away due to being poisoned. No one knows who did it, but we figure the poison was put in their food. I got lucky since I was out training with a friend in the neighboring town. That little struck of luck is the reason why I am still here, but sadly, my parents didn't get the same luck as me. Every second of every day I want my father's advice on how to deal with what is going on in my world, or have the comfort of my mother, but I don't have it anymore. All I have is myself."

Lucy felt her heart start to break as she listened to Dan's spoken words. She knows exactly how he feels, and wishes she can have her mother back every day. Now after finding out her father has passed while being trapped on Tenrou Island for seven years, she wishes to see her father. Her brown eyes looked right into Dan's red eyes with a look he knows too well; it is in that moment when Lucy and Dan can relate to each other, which made him smile at her, feeling thankful. Next to her, she sees Cobra looking at her surprised, and all she can wish is to know what he is thinking.

Curse her for thinking that again!

Lucy tore her eyes away from Dan's as more food started to get put on the large table, and saw appetizing platters scattered before her on gold plates. _This place really loves their gold…_ She deadpanned, which caused Cobra to chuckle besides her. She gave him a small smile as the two started to serve themselves. They each pilled their plate with the delicious food, and started to talk to the different guests around the table. Lucy ate properly while using the proper utensils for the occasion, but her eyes looked straight ahead as she shook her head at Cobra for eating his food like an animal.

She took a bite out of one of the meat platters on the table, and she hummed in delight at the amazing taste of it. It is seasoned properly, and cooked to perfection. Lucy turned to her left to see Cobra looking at the meat on her plate as he read her thoughts, and she cut a piece for him. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Its okay, Cobra. We are partners. I really don't mind sharing," Lucy told him sweetly, and then started to chuckle. "You also have to remember who I usually work with."

"I know who you work with, and its that Flame Brain back at your guild." Cobra stated as he finally took the meat from her fork, and popped it right into his mouth. His eye widened in surprise as the flavor exploded in his mouth, and swallowed the meat wanting more. "This is good."

Lucy laughed as she felt victorious. "I knew you would like it." She said confidently.

"Its snake meat that has been freshly caught this morning," Dan added himself in their conversation. "We always have too many poisonous snakes slithering around, especially cobras. We have figured out a way to cook it correctly, and it has become one of our delicacies."

Lucy stopped chewing the piece of meat in her mouth as she looked down at the meat on her plate, and started to feel sick to her stomach. She gently put her fork down, and swallowed the food with horror. _I regret eating this…_ She thought as she started to feel bad. She looked to her left to see Cobra's face turn pale as Dan's words sunk it. His face displayed absolute horror at eating animals he considers his friends, and he started to feel the meat slowly come up.

Lucy looked at the dragon slayer with concern, and she started to feel bad since she offered him the piece of meat. _I'm sorry, Cobra. I had no idea!_ She thought, and looked towards him. He just nodded his head at her as he slowly got up from his seat, accepting her apology.

"I'll be back in a moment…" The Poison Dragon slayer whispered to her as he looked around for a garbage can.

Lucy nodded towards him as she watched him walk away from his seat. She felt even worse now that he is going to get rid of the substance he tried. Yet those thoughts were quickly brushed aside when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her body stiffened as she turned her head to see who is touching her, with her hands quickly moving to her Celestial keys under her dress.

The man touching her shoulder has an ashen complexion just like Kek's, and has short black hair that is slicked back. His facial features are chiseled, and appear to be a little handsome to her. He is tall and muscular from training a good amount of time, and his eyes held a strong look to them. His eyes are as black as the night sky, but there is red glowing from them that sent chills down Lucy's spine.

"Why hello, Miss Heartfilia. It is an honor to meet you," The man said in a voice that is silky smooth. He gently moved his hand from her shoulder, gliding it down her arm, and gently grasped her small hand in his muscular one. "I am Setekh, an advisor to Dan and his deceased parents."

Lucy felt her skin tingling in a not-so-good way with how Setekh glided his hands down her arm, feeling like something is off about him. Like his kindness is all for show. She quickly looked over her shoulder to see if Cobra is coming, and to her delight she sees him making his way over to his seat.

Her attention became locked again with Setekh as he lifted her hand right up to his lips, and gave it a gentle kiss. She heard Cobra stop not too far from the two of them, and she just gave him a look that explained it all. She also sees Cobra giving the man a look that an animal would give when someone enters their territory; wild and protective, yet he is also looking at Setekh with the same look he gave Kek after he left Dan's study: fear. Lucy knows that she has to ask him what is going on, for she feels she has a right to know since the two of them are working together.

Setekh slowly let go of Lucy's hand, and she quickly placed it right under the table. She feels a burning sensation go through her hand, making her feel uncomfortable and wiggle a little in her seat. It felt like her hand is right in the middle of a fire pit with the flames engulfing them as they continued to burn away at her flesh. She tried not to think those thoughts in fear of Cobra pouncing on Setekh, but at the moment with how her hand is feeling she doesn't blame him.

She looked at the two men exchanging stares as Cobra's canines started to become exposed as he let out a low growl. _Cobra!_ Lucy scolded him in her thoughts, and she saw him turn to look at her. _Don't be stupid! Remember why we are here._ She also reminded him. Lucy saw Cobra relax a bit as he gave her a slight nod, but he still kept his protective stance with his hands starting to become fists.

"Well, this is the famous Oracion Seis member Dan told me about. You must be Cobra, am I right?" Setekh said with a taunting tone in his voice. "It is a _pleasure_ to meet you in person."

Cobra just stared at him. "Likewise." He said tightly.

"Well, I'll let you all proceed with the event. The music and dancing should be starting any minute now, am I right Kek?" Setekh smirked as he backed away from Lucy.

Just as he said that Kek appeared from right behind him, surprising both Lucy and Cobra. He just grinned as he nodded his head at the much taller man, and moved himself to be standing right next to him. Not long after the musicians started to play music next to the four gold chairs, people started to make their way to an empty spot to dance.

"Until next time." Setekh bid his farewell with Kek by his side, and the two started to walk away from the two mages.

Lucy looked around to see Dan dancing with a pretty girl not far from where he stood, and the two seemed to be locked in a conversation. _At least it isn't me for once_. She thought to herself as she felt someone gently pull her out of her seat. She didn't even have to look to know it is Cobra who is taking her out on the dance floor, and the two of them found a spot not far from where they are sitting.

She is surprised that he knows how to properly position himself to dance, but she also doesn't know his past before the Tower of Heaven. What she does know is that now is the time to ask Cobra what happened with Kek and Setekh.

 **I hope you all enjoyed this just as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will say that it is nice to be back to writing again. I hope this one isn't too boring or too short, since I wanted to make sure that I gave everyone a great chapter because I was absent for so long. Please let me know if I accomplished that, or if I didn't.**

 **I am always learning new things every single day, so please don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism. I love learning, and I love hearing everyone's feedback. I also want to apologize if there are any spelling and grammar mistakes. I always try to fix everything, but sometimes things just escape my eyes.**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World:**_

 **Chapter Seven: Words Exchanged**


	7. Words Exchanged

**Author's Note:** **Hello and welcome back. I am right now frustrated with myself because I had this chapter written all out, made sure it was spot-on, and then I accidentally didn't save it into my computer. This chapter is a result of me trying to get everything back the way I had it, and I'm sorry if it is not that good. The pace of the first one I wrote was perfect, and how everything happened was so perfect… And its gone, and this is a result of me re-writing the chapter.**

 **Again, I sincerely apologize if this didn't turn out great. I promise the next one will be better, and I promise to save next time.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Seven:**

Words Exchanged

Music played throughout the feast room as people danced. Everyone danced as they talked to their lovers or family members, and they spoke about whatever came to mind. Servants are rushing all around the large room to clean up after the guests, and as they are doing so, they are dodging people to make sure they don't bump into them. More importantly, they are making sure to not bump into the guests who have had a little too much to drink of the delicious red wine. The chef is out helping take the left over food off the table, making sure to store the food for tomorrow.

Lucy is gazing down towards the two large doors leading into the feast room as both of her hands are placed on Cobra's shoulders. Her hair is swaying with her body as the two mages danced together in the crowd of people. There is a good distance between the two of them as they made elegant turns.

She knows Cobra's one eye is looking down at her as she felt a little tense as she watched Setekh and Kek talk to each other near one of the doors. They are far away from the crowd of people, and they are still out in the light as they exchanged words to one another. They are deep in the conversation they're having, with their eyes just locked onto the others. No one could disturb then if they tried, and this made Lucy feel a little uneasy.

Setekh is bent down listening to what Kek has to say, and a grin is curving his lips. Lucy can see Setekh's teeth start to show as he talked, and she felt her muscles start to tense as she saw large canines poking out from under his lips. From where she is standing she can see they're larger than a dragon slayer's, which made her cringe.

Unconsciously she moved a little closer to Cobra, making the gap between the two of them a little smaller. Her eyes glistened as she continued to observe Setekh and Kek, her hands gripping Cobra's shoulders a little tighter. She can feel Cobra's hands grip her waist as he went through the thoughts in her mind, sorting everything out. She doesn't have to look up at him to know his eye is looking towards the two men.

Kek let out a little chuckle as his hand rose to his lips with his eyes closing, his nose scrunching together, giving it a longer appearance. He looked up at Setekh with his eyes admiring him, which made Lucy squint her eyes at him as she wondered what the two are talking about.

She sees Setekh stand upright with his shoulders back and his head held high. He is looking around the room with calm eyes and his lips in a straight line, folding his hands behind his back. His eyes met Lucy's, stopping there as his grin grew bigger. Time seemed to slow down as she held his gaze, which made her loosen her grip on Cobra's shoulders. Her hands slid down his exposed chest, stopping right on his pecks as his gaze started to turn into a trance. She knows he isn't pulling any type of magic or else she would have noticed, but his eyes seemed to be hiding something from her. She wants to dig deep since she knows they hold the key to this quest.

Lucy blinked a couple of times to make sure she can get out of the trance-like state. She knows she is thinking too much about his gaze, but she knows there is something he is hiding from her and Cobra. She can feel it in her bones. Yet as she got herself out of the trance-like state, she knows that breaking eye contact is a sign he won, and she will be damned if she let that happen.

Setekh just grinned again as Lucy then started to glare at him a little. She noticed his eyes glow red for a second as he nodded towards her. Her hands balled into a fist on Cobra's chest as she saw Setekh turn his back to her, not even bothering to look back at the two mages.

Her gaze then averted to the short man who is watching after Setekh. Kek turned to look at her with his charcoal black eyes as he folded his hands in front of his stomach. He now has a grin making the corners of his lips turn upwards. His gaze has a mischievous look to them, and he turned around to follow Setekh. He, however, looked over his shoulder at them before his departure.

Lucy heard a growl vibrate through Cobra's chest as the doors closed silently behind Kek. It isn't loud enough for the whole room to hear, but loud enough that she can hear it from where she is standing. She looked up at Cobra as she felt his grip around her waist loosen; his hands are now resting perfectly on her body. He is looking around the room with his eye, taking in everything. She figures he must be making sure nothing happens with all of the guests in the room.

She straightened out her hands as she moved them back up to Cobra's shoulders, and felt her body relax as she gave her and Cobra more space. Lucy then looked around the room, too, not sure if the two men actually left. Everyone is dancing normally with smiles, and the chatting is still continuing as if the exchange between her and Setekh didn't happen. She is sure these people didn't bother to observe what is going on around them as they looked content and relaxed. She is starting to think that these people don't care what is going on in their world right now, for they all seem to be in bliss.

Lucy remembers Dan mentioning scouts that still need to come back, and she wonders what kind of information they will bring back. Her and Cobra are right now sitting ducks since they don't know what is happening beyond the castle. She hopes they will come back soon, and she is hoping they come back alive. From the little snippets of what Dan told her, it isn't a good situation in the slightest.

Her eyes landed on Dan, who is dancing his heart away with a girl. He has a smile exposing his pearly white teeth, and his eyes are locked with the girl's. She notices the way his eyes are shinning, and how relaxed he is with her. A smile broke out on Lucy's face as she realized just how much the girl means to Dan.

Lucy then looked at Cobra, and she concentrated on what the two will have to talk about. She sees him still looking over everything with a watchful eye as the two danced around, their hands still not leaving each other's bodies. She slowly moved her hands over Cobra's shoulders, and glided them down his arms, stopping at his mid-forearms. She knows he felt her do this, but he is ignoring it as he watched over everything. She feels herself becoming annoyed as he still didn't look down at her after moving her hands up and down his forearms. _Cobra!_ Lucy thought, which caught his attention. He is now looking down at her with his one eye, giving her an annoyed stare.

"What?" asked Cobra, his voice sounding a little agitated.

"I need to talk to you about a couple of things." Lucy mentioned to him, purposefully ignoring the tone in his voice.

He nodded at her, his gaze never leaving her's. She knows he is going through her thoughts, organizing and putting them together like pieces of a puzzle. She is trying to put together the right words since she knows what she wants to talk to him about.

"When you see Kek or Setekh, I have noticed that you look at them with fear in your eyes," Lucy explained to Cobra as she stared into his black colored eye. "Why is that?"

Lucy observed Cobra's expressions as he thought about his answer. He looks frustrated and a little frightened, but most of all, he looks angry. She has never seen this man become open about what he is feeling inside, so she is taking this moment to remember it. She also knows Cobra is opening up a little since they are working together on this request, and their survival could possibly rest on their communication. She knows she is going to have to become more open to him as well, but she will do so in time when she can learn to trust him. It is also the same for him, and she knows this.

"I… I can't read their souls," Cobra admitted to her as his eye looked right into her's. "I can't predict anything when it comes to those two. No matter how hard I try I can't get past a barrier, and it is unsettling that they can sneak past me. Without that ability I'm lost."

Lucy's eyes widened at Cobra's explanation. She didn't expect that to be what is bothering him. She figured it must have been something he is reading about them, but in reality, it is the opposite. She moved her hands up his bare arms, moved them slowly over his shoulders, and placed them on his chest to try to comfort the man. She knows he most likely won't want it, but it's a way of her telling him she is there for him.

"I can read every soul in this room. There are a few single perverted men that have been eyeing you, but they seem to be preoccupied with some other guests. Women are going nuts over how Dan and I are looking, which disgusts me. I have no interest in those women in the slightest," mumbled Cobra as he looks over his shoulders at the women, and sends them a glare. "I can even read you in this very moment, Heartfilia. You are worried about me and about this quest. You also don't feel safe here despite having Straight not far from you, and you are still learning to put your trust in me. Remember… I hear _everything_."

Lucy can only stare at the Poison Dragon slayer as he spilled everything to her in an agitated voice, and his eye glaring at her. She made sure to put a little more room between the two of them as she began to feel uneasy, yet she knows Cobra is sensing that right now. She can only look at the ground as her hands came off his body all together as she began to hug herself. Once more, Cobra is spot on with everything. She knows there is nothing she can hide from this man, and if she tries to put something in the back of her mind, he can still read it. She can control her thoughts to an extent, but she can't be doing that all the time. He truly does hear _everything_.

He read what she is going to do next since his grip around her waist tightened, and he moved her a little closer. She knows he read her about to turn away and leave the room, but she knows it is futile since he can easily follow her to her room.

"It is useless getting away from me, Lucy," Cobra said to her. "We still haven't finished talking. This is the place to say something without Kek and Setekh being here."

"What can you sense from Kek and Setekh? Your dragon-like senses have to be picking something up from them." Lucy asked as she then put her hands back on Cobra's shoulders, the two swaying around as the music continued to play in the feast room, and her glare set right upon the Poison Dragon slayer.

"They have a smell that is absolutely repulsive. I can smell death, but it is mostly covered in the smell of soot and sulfur. They have been around fires recently, and from how potent it is they are practically in it all the time. They do try to cover it up with cologne, but it doesn't get past my nose," explained the dragon slayer with a slight grin. "I have also sensed them give off a power that is unknown to me. It isn't magic, but it also isn't normal."

Lucy nodded her head as she processed everything he told her. She knows there is something off with Kek and Setekh.

"We are going to have to investigate them some more," Lucy informed him as she lifted one hand off Cobra's shoulders, resting it on her chin.

She sees Cobra nod his head with agreement. She looked back up towards him, and looked into his one eye with a look of concentration. _There is a room under this very hall. The staircase for it leads right down in the front of this feast room right between the two staircases._ Lucy informed him through her thoughts. _When I passed it on my way here, I felt power coming from that room. It is also highly guarded, so that means there is definitely something hidden there. I would talk to the guards, but they didn't seem all that thrilled._ She explained to Cobra, and he kept slowly nodding his head at her as told him what she observed.

"I can read a plan formulating in your mind, Fairy. What are you thinking?" asked Cobra as he stared at her.

Lucy hummed for a couple of minutes as she thought about the information that has been given to them. "We are going to have to investigate different things throughout this castle before Dan's scouts arrive, and put things together to gain a better understanding of what is going on. I'll research things in the library to get a better understanding of this world, especially their Gods. Their Gods seem to play an important role with what is going on."

She heard Cobra hum as she laid her hand down on his shoulder once more, and she felt the heat starting to come off his body as the room started to grow cold. Her eyes searched around the feast room, and she spotted the guests leaving. She then looked for Dan, and saw him sitting back down in his seat in a conversation with the same girl. _That is the most loyal I have ever seen him._ Lucy thought dumbfounded, and she heard the laughter rumble throughout Cobra's chest. Not far from the girl is her parents, who seem to be beaming at their daughter catching the attention of the prince.

Her eyes then spotted something moving around on the ceiling, and she stared at it with her eyes growing wide. She figures Cobra must have noticed because he, too, is now looking up at the ceiling with curiosity.

A shadowy figure is moving around the ceiling, giving the appearance of it slithering like a snake. The head obviously belongs to a person, for she and Cobra can both see the cobra-like headpiece positioned on top of the head. It then stopped above them for just a moment before its head turned slowly to look at them. Lucy then noticed its beady red eyes staring down at them, making chills go up her spine. She felt Cobra move closer to her as a growl made its way up his throat, and one of his canines started to show.

"That is the thing that was in my room." Lucy whispered in urgency as her voice started to shake, and she stared up at the unknown creature with her body tensing.

She gave it a fearful look, and she can swear she saw it manically grin at her. She feels Cobra's arms snake around her as his growl intensified at what she whispered. Lucy felt shell-shocked for a couple of seconds at the dragon slayer's protective nature, and for a second she wondered why he is doing such a thing, yet she pushed those questions away as she then glared at the dastardly creature above them.

"Think the rest of your plan," Cobra informed her as he continued to have a stare down with the creature. "I can read its soul. It does not intend to harm anyone in this room, but it intends to spy on two wizards. That is its main purpose. In other words, its job is to spy on us."

"Creepy!" Lucy shivered, yet she knows she is going to have to trust Cobra in this situation.

Lucy then looked at Cobra, and even though he isn't looking at her, she knows he is listening to her. _I need you to scout the castle, Cobra. I have a feeling that there are things hidden here, and you are the perfect one for sneaking around. Please report anything you find back to me, and I'll do the same for you._ She informed him through her thoughts. _Remember to act natural_.

Cobra nodded his head at her as she then focused her gaze onto the creature on the ceiling. She is glad Cobra is cooperating with her; it gives her a little hope for the future of this mission.

The creature let out a low hiss as it faded away from the ceiling, its eyes the last thing to fade from sight.

Lucy felt Cobra take his arms off her waist as she took her hands off his shoulders as they both relaxed. She then turned to Dan, who is now talking to both the girl and her parents enthusiastically.

"I can't believe he didn't notice…" Lucy deadpanned.

"He is too wrapped up with what is going on to really care. I don't have to read his soul; its clearly written all over his body language." Cobra noted.

Lucy just nodded her head. "Well, we know what we have to do starting tomorrow. Before that, I might as well enjoy the feast while it lasts."

She made her way back to the table, eyeing the desserts scattered around. She knows it is fattening, but she also knows that she will eat healthy for the remainder of the mission.

Cobra sighed as he then looked right up at the ceiling once last time before following Lucy, agreeing with what her soul is saying.

 **I'm sorry if this chapter sucked. I promise I will continue to make this story better as time goes on, and I'm sorry that this chapter is late. Also, please let me know if there is any way I can fix my grammar and spelling! Thank you!**

 **The poll is now closed, and it appears that both of my stories are tied. I am going to have to figure out which one to focus one, so let's see how everything goes.**

 **Coming next to** _ **The Cursed World:**_

 **Chapter Eight: Cobra's Endeavor**


	8. Cobra's Endeavor - Part One

**Author's Note:** **Welcome back! I hope everyone is doing well. This is my first time doing a chapter with Cobra's point of view, so hopefully I get him spot on. Let me know if there is anything I can do different to make Cobra more like Cobra.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Eight:**

Cobra's Endeavor - Part One

The castle feels hot to Cobra as he walks down one of its magnificent halls. He is wearing his typical pants and boots, but he has on a tan t-shirt to help keep him cool. A butler told him it is made out of some type of cotton that helps regulate body temperature, yet he has found that it makes him feel hotter as he feels sweat start to drip down his back.

As he passes guards they would wave or talk to him a little bit, which he always found odd and annoying. He knows they are trying to be friendly, but to him it felt like a nuisance. He usually scowls at them as the conversation drags on, and excuses himself without giving a reason why. It's not like he cares, anyway.

He has been stuck in this palace for the past two weeks with finding nothing about Setekh or Kek. This agitates the young man since his partner finds out more information concerning the Gods and Goddesses of this world. Every night he has to hear Lucy go on and on about what she has found, and how she thinks everything is going okay with the good Gods, like Isis and Osiris. What Cobra did bring up to her, however, is the fact she hasn't looked at the section of the evil Gods in this world. He loves that he gets the credit for this idea; it boosts his ego a little bit, and it seems to have set Lucy down a good path. The fact still stands that he has found nothing, making him feel like he is slacking.

He growled at a guard as he approached an intersection that will lead three ways. He can go straight down the hallway, and arrive at the Feast Room he has been dining in time and time again, or he can turn around and go back the way he came. Then there is the final option of going down the short hall that will lead to a set of big, emerald green doors. Out those doors is the Palace Gardens.

The Palace Gardens looks like a regular garden to Cobra, but he knows how much Lucy loves to read there. He finds her there at least once every day if she isn't in Dan's Study, and he has to endure the scorching heat while he has to hear about what she has found in the beginning part of the day. She claims she has big finds in the gardens, but Cobra just nods his head dismissively at her. He wonders how a garden can help someone with that, but that is none of his business. He even spars with Dan out in the garden every other day to keep himself in shape, and he will usually destroy a plant or two the gardeners have to repair.

Cobra thought about going there to get some fresh air for a couple of minutes, but he growled and showed his canines when he sees the most annoying guard enter the palace through the doors. He quickly decides against the idea, and moves forward while sending the guard one last glare.

The other reason he won't go near the guard is because that guard seems to harbor some weird feelings for him, which creeps out Cobra.

His pace returned to normal as he made his way down the hallway with his hands stuffed in his pockets, happy how he is able to avoid getting caught up in another conversation with the guard. More guards passed him down this hallway, yet they seem to be busy with something since they haven't acknowledged him. He is thankful for that, but he was able to pick up their thoughts; someone is approaching the castle. Their thoughts or souls didn't share anything besides them rushing around and getting ready. This made Cobra raise his eyebrows, and he now has something he can share with Lucy.

"Why hello, Cobra," a croaky and high-pitched voice called out to him, drawing Cobra out of other people's thoughts and his own. "How are you this morning?"

Cobra stopped in his tracks as his muscles tensed everywhere. His breathing became a little uneven as fear started to swell in the pit of his stomach, and his hands clenched together in the pockets of his pants. His one eye looks towards the area of the known voice, and he is thinking repeatedly how helpless he is without hearing the thoughts of this short man. He hates that feeling with a passion that burns brighter than the sun, yet he can smell the stench of death, soot and sulfur coming from the short man. Having his other dragon-like senses helps him, but without reading that person's thoughts, he feels totally lost.

Cobra looks towards Kek as he slowly approaches him, and noticed how his skin has grown a little darker with soot. It is not noticeable to the naked eye, but Cobra can see it. He sees Kek's hands fold in front of him as his fingers tapped nervously together, and he can see his eyes darting everywhere before settling on Cobra's one eye. His hunched back seems a little straighter, like he is doing a type of stretch exercise to give him some height, but the poison dragon slayer knows better then to assume that.

"I'm doing well. Yourself?" answered Cobra with his one eye giving him a look that could kill.

Cobra's nostrils flared as he sees Kek's creepy smile appear on his lips, and his muscles tense more. He knows he appears like a wild animal about to pounce, but the taller man does not care in the slightest. He will attack this short man in the blink of an eye if he needs to without a second thought or a guilty conscious.

"I am doing well," Kek answered as he steps a little closer to Cobra in a timid manner. "I am wondering if you have seen Lucy this morning? I am looking for her at the moment."

Cobra's eyebrows rose at this, and he feels his jaw clench as he wonders why Kek wants to speak with Lucy. He lifts his hands out of his pockets and folds his arms over his muscular chest. _What does he want with her?_ Cobra asks himself. He knows he doesn't want Kek anywhere near Lucy since he is dangerous, but part of him knows she can easily defend herself. He can sense the young woman's magic power; she is strong and capable, and she can easily keep up with her crazy teammates.

Yet he doesn't just sense the power that comes from Lucy, but he can read her soul and mind. She is the most innocent and kind person he has ever met in his life, and has such a strong will and determination that surprises him every time he notices it. He has found her to be strong during the past two weeks when the two have sparred with each other, and he has nothing but the highest respect for her. He now finds himself wanting to be with her - sometimes, since she can be annoying - and when something pops up that is potentially dangerous, he wants nothing more than to be near her to make sure she is safe.

He is sure this is what her teammate, Natsu Dragneel, feels when he is around her. Cobra himself doesn't know why he is this way with her, and he hopes he will discover more in time, but he has more important things to focus on than sorting out useless and unknown feelings.

Cobra knows he can't lie to Kek since it will cause more of a rift between the two men, and he needs whatever trust to help gain more information. As much as he wants to send the short man in the wrong direction, he knows Lucy would get annoyed if he screws something up. He has to tell the truth despite what can happen to her.

"Last time I saw her she was in Dan's Study," answered Cobra through clenched teeth. "If she is not in there, I suggest looking in the garden."

Kek nodded his head as he then started to make his way down the hall. "Thank you, Cobra. Enjoy your day."

Cobra didn't say anything as the short man trotted away from the mage, and he feels himself start to relax once more. He looks straight ahead at the door not even five feet in front of him, and started to walk through the door as his pace quickened.

In front of him are the two staircases leading up to the Feast Room; maids are all over cleaning the stairs and railings to keep everything looking pristine. In between the two staircases is the one staircase leading down to the room Lucy told him about two weeks ago, and even though he has walked past that area many times, he can still feel the immense magic power coming from that room. The magic didn't feel natural to him, like it is something not part of this world or Earthland, and this concerns him greatly. He has told Lucy this, but she can't find any information that can relate to what is emanating from the room.

Cobra slipped his hands back in his pockets as he moved forward towards the single staircase leading down to the door, and his one eye locked with the two guards guarding the door. He notices how big and buff they are, and he sees their brown eyes staring him down as he walks down the stairs.

This is his first time approaching the door, and he is curious to see what happens if he gets too close. Maybe he can sense something from the other side of the door that will give him some sort of lead.

Simultaneously, the guards extended their legs, put their outer arm firmly at their side, and used their axes to create an X in front of Cobra's face. Cobra feels a grin spreading as he looks at the door with an intense look in his eye. He then looks up at the two guards, who are both staring down at him with glares as cold as ice.

"No one is permitted past these doors," the guard on the left mentioned in a hard tone.

"Only Setekh and Kek are allowed in these halls." the guard on the right added.

Cobra can only grin as he feels the energy surging out of the room; it feels like a giant wave of water hitting against his skin, drawing him towards it with its sheer power. He finds it intriguing, but he senses there is some type of darkness in it as well. He knows going in that room will make his dark side come out once more; however, with the knowledge of Setekh and Kek having some type of affiliation with that one room, he knows he is going to have to go in there at some point.

"Oh?" is what Cobra says to the guards. "What about Prince Dan Straight? He is the leader of this world, so shouldn't he be allowed?"

The poison dragon slayer crosses his arms over his chest as he continues to stare forward at the door, yet his one eye keeps flashing between the two guards. He can see and read how he has them stumped with his question. He knows they haven't thought of that before, and he feels himself chuckling at them.

"Until we get the 'okay' from Setekh, we will let the prince in," the guard on the left said in deep thought.

Just as Cobra was about to beat some sense into the guard's mind, he hears a familiar soul coming towards him. His grin calmed down as he turned to face the staircase, and as expected, his eye meets with Dan standing at the top of the staircase. He is looking down at Cobra with a hard expression, one that is almost unreadable, but Cobra knows what it is about from reading him.

"Cobra, please come with me. I have something to show you." ordered the prince, who is waiting patiently at the top of the staircase.

Cobra sees how tense Dan looks standing there and he knows that this is important. He uncrosses his arms, slowly stuffs them in his pockets, and turns his back to the guards while looking over his shoulder at them. He is grinning at them as he is showing off his canine teeth, and his eye giving them a knowing look.

"Until next time." Cobra said to them as he walks up the stairs towards Dan.

As he arrived next to the prince, he started to follow him up to the Feast Room. They entered through the doors together, and Cobra followed Dan as he walked around the room, greeting the servants and maids while doing so. Cobra ignores them as he arrives at the place with the royal chairs, and gives Dan a suspicious look.

"As you may have read, Lucy told me what is going on," Dan mentioned to Cobra. "I know you are right now looking for any type of clue with what is going on, and she also told me about Setekh and Kek. I think I have something that will help you on your search."

Cobra raised an eyebrow at Dan as he slowly nods his head. He feels a little thankful for having Dan giving him some help, for he can finally report to Lucy with something. He is tired of her showing him up all the time.

"Help me move the largest golden chair, please," asked Dan as he started to walk towards them.

Cobra and him worked together to move the largest chair a little to the right, setting it down next to the second largest chair of the four. Dan moves so he is standing right next to Cobra, and motions with his eyes to look down towards the floor.

Right where the chair used to be is a large pitch-black hole. It is large enough to fit two people inside it, and goes straight down to wherever it leads. Cobra is looking at it suspiciously since he can smell just how old and untouched it is. It makes him feel a little uneasy going somewhere that may have ancient diseases, or an accumulation of dangerous critters. Poisonous and venomous snakes are the least of his worries for obvious reasons, but the animals and people turning into skeleton creatures is his concern. He hasn't seen that happen during his stay, but he knows better than to jinx something like that. For all Cobra knows the dead that could come to life to attack him.

From reading Dan's thoughts, he knows he can trust him with this situation. Dan wouldn't have brought him to this spot if he didn't think there would be something of importance.

"What do you think is down there?" asks Cobra as he turns to face Dan, concentrating on what the prince has to say.

Dan shakes his head as looks between Cobra and the hole. "I have no clue. From what I know, this hole hasn't been touched in five hundred years. It used to be a tunnel where my ancestors could escape if the castle was ever under siege; there are many tunnels that lead to all parts of this castle, and a tunnel that leads out of it,"

Cobra's eye turned into a slit when he briefly heard something spark inside Dan's soul. "What else is down there? You're hiding something."

He hears Dan sigh as his eye moved to look down at the hole once more. Cobra crosses his arms as he let the little snippet of information sink in his mind, and wonders if Dan told Lucy about this passage way. Either way, it will be getting back to her one way or another.

"From what I understand prisoners used to be kept down in prisons built there during a war two hundred years ago, and they haven't been taken down. I don't even know if the prisoners were let out; there is no documentation telling me so," Dan informed Cobra. "I have heard rumors of a catacomb, too. The rumors say it was built out of my world's soldiers that died in battle,"

Cobra just nods his head as he processes everything, yet he can hear the worry laced in the prince's soul and thoughts. Dan is worrying about the dead coming to life, but Cobra knows it is a risk worth taking if it gives them a lead. If something comes to life, he knows he can take it out in the blink of an eye.

Cobra used to be a dark mage, and he has seen things on his travels not many people know about. He has done things no other wizards have done, and due to that, he feels more prepared than anyone in the castle to explore down there.

"Don't worry about me, Straight. I will be just fine." Cobra grunted. "Just make sure to close off the hole before anyone else finds it."

Dan just stared down at Cobra with worrying eyes, but still nodded his head. "I hope you know if something happens down there, you're on your own,"

Cobra grins as he chuckled a little. "I already know that. It shouldn't take me that long. I have dragon senses; I can smell and hear my way through the tunnels."

Dan sighs as he nods his head once more. "Then I wish you the best of luck. Report to me or Lucy when you are done."

Cobra nods his head as he takes a step forward towards the hole. He feels light yet murky air coming up from the opening, letting him know that there is an air current. He can smell just how old it is, and he knows his senses will be bombarded with a stronger scent when he arrives as the bottom.

He shakes his head side-to-side as he took another step forward, and without hesitation, he stepped right in to the open space.

 **Thank you for getting through this chapter! I know it isn't the most exciting, but it will be more interesting once I get the second part to this gets rolling. I had to split this chapter into two parts, or else it would be near twenty pages long. I don't know about all of you, but I like short chapters. As a matter of fact, let me know in the reviews below!**

 **Please stay tuned for part two!**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World:**_

 **Chapter Nine: Cobra's Endeavor - Part Two**


	9. Cobra's Endeavor - Part Two

**Author's Note:** **Here is part two! I hope you all enjoy. Warning: slight cursing.**

 **This will be the only time I mention this, but I published a new story on Fanfiction. I want to try another crack pairing, and I thought I could be a little more daring with working on a third story. It is called** _ **Summer Love**_ **, and is another high school story. Unlike my other one that was about Gajeel Redfox and Lucy Heartfilia (** _ **Fairy Tail High School Romance**_ **; I deleted it a while back), this one is about Lyon Vastia and Lucy Heartfilia. If anyone is interested, feel free to read it. There is more on my profile about it.**

 **I will only mention this once, but I am working on chapter four for my Lucy Heartfilia and Gray Fullbuster story** _ **The Pirates of Fairy Tail: Book One**_ **. Be on the lookout for that coming up soon.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Nine:**

Cobra's Endeavor - Part Two

Darkness.

That is all Cobra sees around him as he feels himself falling through a dark void, but in reality, it is a hole leading to the underground tunnels beneath the castle. He didn't bother to flair his arms around since he knows his hands will hit the stone around him. He knows it is better keeping them at his side as he continues to fall.

He feels like the fall is taking forever as he feels the air brush against him, and he smells the underground as he got closer to the bottom.

Then a dim light appears beneath him, and he fixes his one eye towards it. It grows wide as the light gets bigger and brighter, and he clenches his jaw as he starts to sense the ground coming closer. He can hear the wind rushing around him. He can hear the moans caused by the air through the tunnels, yet he cannot hear a single soul.

He made a groaning sound as he his body hit the bottom, for the fall happened to quickly for him to comprehend. He rolled over onto his back when it dawns on him that his stomach is what hit the ground, and he lets out a breath as he stared more into the darkness around him.

Cobra reaches his hands out before him, feeling the strange texture of the ground beneath. It feels new despite it not being used for hundreds of years, but as his hands took in whatever it is, he then realizes it is sand he landed on. He stuck his hand in it, wanting to know if the sand is resting upon any hard surface, but he could not find one. He thinks that is odd, but he nods to himself when he remembers the age. He knows sand must have built up over time.

He finds the will to stand even though his body is starting to ache with him gripping the side of his torso.

"Damn…" mumbles Cobra as he lets out a breath, annoyed. "That fall felt like forever."

Despite his low mumble, he can hear himself echo throughout the many halls of the underground, allowing him to know that this place is completely empty.

He stretches his arms around as he slowly walks trying to find a wall. He knows that this is pathetic, but his enhanced sight can only do so much in the dark. He keeps moving around until he feels the smoothness of stone, most likely sandstone from what he has gathered about this place. He gently glides both of his hands on the wall, feeling every crevice in the stone until his hands went over something smooth, but filled with ancient cobwebs.

His eye grows wide as he figured out what he is holding. _A torch!_ He exclaims to himself as he then picks it up with force.

His senses went on overdrive, and the smell of the area hit him like a ton of bricks. It is old and murky; iron and copper is filling his nose. He flinches as he then smells old decay, as if something has been left in the tunnels for ages. He figures it might be rodents that died wandering around the tunnels and got lost, and soon ended up dying from dehydration and starvation. That is what he is hoping that he smells, but who is he to care if something is rotting? He just arrived, and he knows that it is not his fault if idiots died.

He grunts in annoyance as he starts to swipe the torch across the stone to get it to light up, wondering why he didn't think about that in the first place when he first found it. If there is going to be something down here to attack him, he wants a little more than just hearing and smelling to help him win.

The torch sparked for a second before the top burst into flames, and the tunnel area around him started to light up. Cobra can now see ten feet around him with no trouble, and with his dragon senses, he can see in the dark a little easier.

His eye caught something light up not far from his left, and he turned his head to look at another torch light up. Soon, on both sides of the tunnel, all the lights lit up one by one, creating the perfect light for him to see all around him. He can see a door at the end of the hallway, and he knows he is going to have to use that door to exit the room.

The walls are made of sandstone just as he predicted, and the ground is covered with sand. His eyebrows rose a little as he found the sand suspicious, but easily brushes it off as he then takes in the area around him some more.

Between the walls are giant gaps, most likely leading to a chamber, but what is making him suspicious is the iron bars blocking the chambers. He glares and lets out a low sigh as he inspects the area a little more before looking above him. He sees the hole he landed out of, and sees that it is pitch black; no light is coming from the top. _Dan must have put the chair above the entrance like I asked._ He thought to himself. _Good. That means no one can disturb my search_. He grins at the thought of being in peace and quiet in the tunnels, which means no guards are going to annoy him while he does his job.

Cobra than walks forward with his head held high and shoulders back, but his head is turning from side-to-side as he looks around. He walks until he reaches one of the gaps in the wall, and turns to see what is hidden behind the iron bars.

His eye widens as he nose flares. He feels his muscles tightening as he his gaze fixed upon what is in front of him. He knows Dan told him about what he will most likely find in the tunnels, but he still can't believe it himself. It is like the time when Nirvana was unearthed with him and Brain standing on the tower at the way top, and the world of light started to slowly crash down until the Light Alliance stopped them. It is that same feeling of surprise and wonder, but now he feels a little anxious as well. He is not nervous or terrified - he has never felt those emotions outside the Tower of Heaven and with Setekh and Kek around, but even anxious is an overstatement.

He feels concerned.

Behind the iron bars are the skeletons of the enemy soldiers from the war that took place two hundred years ago. They jaws are hanging open as some of the arms are draped over the area where their stomachs were once located. Some of the skeletons still have the helmets over their heads, and their swords are still sheathed. There uniforms are mostly gone besides the iron breastplate on their ribcages. They are all bunched together, with some lying on top of another skeleton, and some a little further away from the bunch located at the back. Cobra sees a couple sprawled out on the sand with swords going through their ribcages. He then takes in the scene a little more as he realizes what must have happened here.

They all fought each other while some were crushed under the body weight of others. Their own comrades easily killed the ones who tried to get away. From the looks of it, this fight didn't last long since they were all slaughtered.

Cobra lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he thought about what the prisoners went through. Being a former prisoner himself, he knows how they feel, but to fight each other… that is something he could never bring himself to do with his guild mates. He doesn't like to admit things to himself or out loud, but he does care about his guild mates. He has cared since they were in the Oracion Seis to now when they are part of Crime Sorciere. He wonders if these prisoners were deranged or bored when the fight broke out, but it is clear that none made it.

He then looks at a skeleton that is still resting against the iron bars with his hand poking out one of the holes. His head is hanging down, as if he was looking down during his last moments, but then Cobra sees a throwing knife handle sticking out the back of the skull. He shakes his head as he looked towards the cell across from him, and sees that these skeletons are just resting in the back against each other. He figures those warriors must have died from starvation and dehydration. _Every cell holds a different story for how these people died_. Cobra concludes.

He then looks towards the first cell he laid eyes upon, and sees something that sparkled for a second. It came from the hand poking out of the cell, and Cobra slowly walks over to it with a gaze filled with interest. He slowly moves the fingers apart before something falls onto the sand near his feet. He looks at it as he bends down to pick it up, and once he has it in his hands, he sees that it is a small iron key.

Cobra stares at the key for a little while longer before something in the back of his mind starts to tell him to keep it. It is like he knows that this key will come in handy at some point in the future, like it can and will help him out of a situation. He knows that he cannot ignore this feeling with his life on the line, and he can't forget the Celestial Spirit wizard that is his partner on this quest. This key will help save her life when the times calls for it. He grips the small key in his one hand as he thinks about Lucy, and wonders what Kek needs to speak with her about. Part of him wants to be there with her when the two speak, but he knows that completing this little task will have to be the priority before going to her.

He stuffs the key in one of his pockets, and then looks at the soldier who died next to the gate. It is then when Cobra feels a pang of guilt go through his body as he pieced together this man's final moments. It is something he has seen while at the Tower of Heaven, so it is something he is able to identify.

The man took the key from the guards that watched these halls, and he waited for the right time to break out. Then the fight broke out, something he must not have seen coming, and started to make his way to the lock located at the far left side of the prison cell's gate. He was just making his final moments to make it out, but then one of his so-called comrades must have seen him trying to reach for something. That is when his comrade threw the throwing knife into the back of his head, and he died right before he could get out. Before he could become a free man once more. It was easy to piece this together, but for all he knew, this man could have had a family once and he never got to see them again.

Cobra closed his one eye as he did something he hasn't done in ages: pray. He let out a single prayer for the deceased man, and then he walked away from the cell, not bothering to look back at the scene behind him. He didn't bother looking in the other cells as he passed them by, for he has already seen enough in this one area to know what happened to these people.

He then approached the door at the end of the hallway, and to his surprise, the door opened up without him having to unlock it. He looks at it surprised, but then that surprise turned into caution.

The door unlocked means one thing to Cobra, and that is someone was here before him.

Cobra continues to walk the tunnels beneath the castle, and sighs as he has found nothing to help him and Lucy. He starts to feel annoyed, questioning why he chose to help her in the first place, but he knows that she made him do this for a reason. It would be a waste if he just sat around and did nothing.

He shakes his head as he comes to another standstill. In front of him are three doors that will lead him to different tunnels. He sighs as he feels himself become more annoyed, for he feels like he is just getting himself lost in the underground. This frustrates him; he can't smell his way through the tunnels since the air is starting to smell the same to him.

He sighs as he then starts to think logically about which tunnel will lead to where. He closes his one eye as he starts to take in the area around him, using his senses to see if he can notice anything. His eye widened as a certain scent appeared. Its smells like soot and sulfur, but it mainly smells like death.

His eye grows wide as he recognizes the scent, and a growl forms deep in his throat. The scent is coming from the middle door, and with his canine teeth showing, he moves towards the door with the force of a bull.

Part of him is glad he has found a scent that can lead him out of the tunnels, but another part of him is angry that it has to be _them_. As he went through the door, he figures he will have to follow the scent for more than just getting out of the underground. It will be a lead to figure out what those two idiots are doing behind the scenes as they act nice around Dan. Cobra figures it is a good thing he found Setekh's and Kek's scent.

Again, he is surrounded by darkness as he entered the area around him. There is a sound of a constant air breeze going through this place in all different directions. The ground beneath isn't sand, too, for it feels like there is sandstone beneath his feet. This comforts the Poison Dragon slayer; there will be nothing there to make him fall through the floor.

He cleared his throat as he took in the smells of everything around him. This place, as he expects, smells very old. There are little hints of iron and copper, but nothing too strong like the place he arrived in. What he does pick up is the scent of plaster and hardened mud, which means this place is being held together by those substances. He then starts wonder where he is.

He then uses the torch in his left hand to rub it against the wall, and feels that it isn't a smooth surface. It is bumpy with many crevices, holes, and weird shaped stones, yet every stone was different. It is almost as if whoever put everything together purposefully did that, and Cobra does not like it at all.

His senses are going wild as he once again picked up the scent he is following, but he knows he must see before continuing. He then moved his torch away from the wall, and with a stroke of luck, he found another torch, lighting it up with his. The torches on both sides of the wall lit up simultaneously, creating a lighten path all the way down the hallway.

It is a single hallway, too, but this isn't what is making the mage feel uneasy as he grits his teeth. His muscles start to tense as he took in what is in front of him. He knows that this is the other thing Dan told him about before he took this little venture into the underground tunnels.

" _I have heard rumors of a catacomb, too. The rumors say it was built out of my world's soldiers that died in battle."_

He has stumbled upon the rumored catacombs Dan told him about, and he knows for sure that those rumors are true. The walls are lined with hundreds, maybe thousands, of skulls from the warriors who perished in battle. The eye sockets are filled with dirt and mud, and the bottom half of their jaw is missing. Not one skull looks alike; they are all shaped different. Some skulls are a little cleaner than others, while some still have the dents and scrapes from the battle. There are femurs in the wall as well, and the humorous bone is placed in random places. The architect also did the skull and crossbones pattern, and this makes Cobra think that whoever built this got a little bored.

His eye landed on random holes in the wall that are parallel to each other, and are separated teen feet from the other on the same wall. There are also two on each wall, giving the appearance of bunk beds. They are resting places for soldiers who are higher ranked than the ones put in the wall. Cobra walks closer to the resting area, peering inside to see what the skeletons look like, but also to sense if there is a chance of them coming to life.

These skeletons still have the same clothes they wore when they went into battle; the breastplate and everything is still attached to them. Their linen cloths are a little torn and rotted, but Cobra knows that is expected since these deceased warriors are a little over two hundred years old. They don't have their helmets, yet they still have their axes, swords and throwing knives. What concerns him the most is that the weapons still look new, like they were never used to kill another person. If the weapon wasn't used to slay someone, they should look worn down from age. Yet they don't.

Cobra straightened his posture as he looks around the area once more, having an uneasy feeling enter the pit of his stomach. He is no fool; he knows the weapons have been tampered with, and the ground beneath him as been taken care of unlike the other tunnels he went down. There are no cobwebs, no dust - nothing.

He knows people have been using this hallway more than once a day, and he has a good feeling he knows _who_ is using them. His eye turned into a slit as he walks forward, making sure to keep his senses clear and ready for even the slightest bit of noise.

He continues to walk down the tunnel with his feet slightly echoing, and he keeps looking all around him at the catacombs, trying to see if something comes to life.

He stops in front of a well-kept wooden door, and breaths in the air coming from the door. The smell of Setekh and Kek are strong here, and he knows that he has found the room they reside in. He gently sets his torch down on the ground, not caring if it will be discovered by anyone, and puts out the fire by stomping on it. He enters through the door, closing it silently behind him.

The room he entered in is not made of sandstone, but is in fact, made of regular dark grey stone. There are a few torches lit in the room, but Cobra sees a window on the right side of the room, bringing in natural light. _I'm finally out of the tunnels._ He thinks to himself with a slight grin.

He sees all the pillars in the room creating a C-like path that is laid out with red carpet. Where he is standing, he sees an iron fence connecting two pillars. On the pillars are pictures he hasn't seen before. They appear to be generals since they are wearing a uniform with their weapons by their side. He knows this is the generals' headquarters, but with the smell he is picking up, it doesn't belong to them anymore.

"My Lord, it seems as though Dan's guests are getting too nosy," a high-pitched and croaky voice said in the room, drawing Cobra away from his observations.

It is Kek.

He quietly and stealthily moved around the floor, and moved his back against a cold pillar, and looks over his shoulders at the area where the voice is coming from. It angers Cobra that he cannot hear their souls, but he is just going to have to deal with that until he leaves the castle. His one eye sees Kek standing there, but what throws him off is how different Kek looks.

Kek now appears taller than what he originally looks like. He has tanner skin, his hair looks more groomed, and his back is straight instead of being hunched over. His nose is still as big as ever, but everything else about him looks stronger. He isn't wearing the same garments Cobra saw him in early as well, for they look like something royalty would wear.

Next to him is Setekh, but he also looks different. His clothing is now red and black and form fitting; he can see every nook and cranny of the man's body, much to Cobra's displeasure. He wants that sight out of him memory permanently, but as his eye landed right on his face, he sees fangs coming out of Setekh's mouth. The fangs look snake-like, long and sharp, and what pops into Cobra mind is the creature him and Lucy saw at the feast. It was either him or something he sent. Setekh's eyes are now a dark red that resembles a pool of blood, and his tongue is now shaped like a snake's. His hair is thicker, but other than that, everything appears the same.

Yet coming from both of them is a dark and powerful magic that resembles what Cobra felt coming out of the room that is blocked off. This concerns the mage greatly, but for now, he has to focus on what the two are talking about. He missed the conversation they were having before he arrived, but he knows that whatever he hears now is just as important.

"It appears they are, Kek," Setekh agreed. "Lucy seems to never leave that study while Cobra just aimlessly wanders around the castle. I no idea what that wizard girl is researching, but I clearly know what that ex-criminal is up to."

Cobra grits his teeth as he heard this. He knows he made it obvious, but hearing it coming out of Setekh's mouth made anger stir inside of him. He knows he should have been more careful, and he knows that he should have just ignored Kek this morning, but he gave himself away. _Damn it!_ Cobra screams in his head.

"Oh really, Sir?" asks Kek. "What is it? I just thought the man is lost. He does seem like a blockhead."

Cobra wants to rip Kek's throat out at the insult he just received, but it will cost him his cover. Staying put seems like his best option. _Why that little shit…_ He hissed in his mind.

Setekh chuckles at Kek's false observation. "No, Cobra is more than a blockhead. He is an intelligent man, but he stays quiet for many reasons. He is observing us, trying to get information to give back to someone," His expression turns grim and dark as he fully turns to look at Kek. "Have you talked to Lucy today?"

Cobra's eyebrows scrunched together. _What is with their sudden interest in Heartfilia?_

"No, Set, but I will soon. Cobra told me where I could find her," answers Kek. "I will ask her soon enough for you."

 _Set? What kind of name is that?_ Cobra questions as he starts to think about what Lucy has told him about the different Gods and Goddesses. She hasn't mentioned that God's name to him before.

"She will make a fine addition to the new world I am creating… So intelligent and beautiful… she will be perfect." Set hissed like a snake as a grin broke out on his black lips. "We just have to find a way to take over the castle, and from our base point in Uruk, we will be able to get this whole land under our control."

Setekh - who is apparently Set - and Kek started to laugh together, creating an evil-like symphony that made Cobra's blood boil.

"Now we must get back to work, Kek. Duty calls." laughs Set as he turns towards the door on the other side of the room. "Go and talk to the Heartfilia girl. One way or another, she will be part of our plans."

"Yes, my Lord." Kek laughs as the two exit the room, closing the door behind them.

Cobra than stands up from his hiding spot, and walks on the carpet leading to the door. He is looking at the ground as all the information sinks in, and he felt his hands bunch up into fists and his teeth grinding against each other. He feels anger go through his veins.

He has to get out of this room to go find Lucy before Kek or Set does, for she is in the greatest danger out of the two of them. He knows that he didn't get a lot of information while hearing the two speak, but it is just enough to let him know what the two are planning to do. Yet his mind kept going back to what they want with Lucy. He has an idea of what they want, and he is hoping he is wrong, but he knows he is going to have to watch her more closely.

Cobra started to jog in the room, exited through the door, and started to run in another tunnel that leads to the castle; he can smell the food and the different scents of the people working there.

He has to get to Lucy before Kek or Set does. He has to make sure she is safe, or else he would never forgive himself if something were to happen to her.

 **Well, here we are. I know this one isn't the greatest of chapters, but it is my longest one. I'm sorry if this bored you, but I am getting to the more exciting parts of the story. Everything will be revealed in time, so stayed tuned to see what is coming up.**

 **I want to apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes. They escaped my eyes while I was editing and reading it over.**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World**_ **:**

 **Chapter Ten: Kek's Proposal**


	10. Kek's Proposal

**Author's Note:** **Welcome back!**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Ten:**

Kek's Proposal

Everything remains peaceful as a slight breeze picks up in the Palace Gardens. The sun is reflecting off the white marble floors with the specks of gold, and the different flowers surrounding the pathways seem to glow as the sun hits them just right. The palm trees blew in the wind, making a rustling sound.

All of this made the area around Lucy comforting in this strange world she entered two weeks ago. It gives her tranquility without worrying about the violence happening outside the castle walls. It worries her every day not knowing what can happen, so she tries to seek peace where she can find it. She has Dan to lean on if something is worrying her, and surprisingly enough, she also has Cobra since he can read her before she knows what it going on herself. She also has her spirits, which gives her more comfort.

As strange as it is for her, she has a feeling Cobra has been looking out for her lately. Its something she isn't used to, but she finds it a little sweet of him to go out of his way to do that. She knows he isn't that bad deep down; he has a haunting past that led him to become part of the Oracion Seis. She remembers Erza Scarlet mentioning something about the Oracion Seis being slaves as kids at the Tower of Heaven. That is the only reason why she knows about it, and she knows Cobra knows she knows, too.

Lucy flipped through another page of the book she is reading, or the book Cobra suggested she looks at to help gain more information. It is a book about the evil Gods and Goddesses in this world. She thinks this will help her and the Poison Dragon Slayer get a lead with Setekh and Kek, but she has found nothing to help them so far. The book is filled with helpful information dating back to the beginning of time, but nothing seems to giving her any idea about Dan's two sketchy helpers.

She hums as she turns another page, but then something catches her eye. It's a picture of a God, one who looks strong and powerful in a red and black formfitting suit. He has fangs like a snake and eyes as red as blood. The more she looks at the God the more she finds a resemblance to someone in the castle; she can tell from the facial features. Something is telling her to look at this page. Something is saying that this is a key to getting answers.

 _As the world is filled with many good things, there has to be the bad to balance everything out. The world is filled with chaos, war and bloodshed, since many invasions have taken place over thousands of years. The fear of deserts and sandstorms plague the minds of the people, for the land is unpredictable. Yet all of this is caused by one God, and his name is Set._

 _Set is the God of the desert, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners. He is the one who brings all sorts of chaos to the land, and has attacked the other Gods. He is an enemy of Osiris and Horus, brother and nephew to him. He once cut Osiris into fourteen pieces, and spread them across the land. As mythology has it, Osiris' wife, Isis, found his pieces and put him back together, resurrecting him soon after._

 _Conflict between those two Gods has been going on for thousands of years, and will most likely continue on in the future. Whenever conflict happens, Set's son Anubis, God of mummification and the afterlife, is unclear on which side he fights for, troubling his father greatly._

 _Set has been known to go down into the Human World to cause chaos among the people, or when he has a plan boiling up in the World of Gods. He goes by different names each time he goes down, and these names are Seth, Setesh, Sutekh, Suty, and finally, Setekh._

Lucy gasped as her eyes widened. She feels her body start to tense as she read over the names Set goes by, and it all started to click together in her mind. The red glow from Setekh's eyes and the time she saw his teeth as the feast. It also explains the magic power she feels coming from him whenever he is around. "Setekh" is just a fake name to hide himself when he comes down to the Human World, for "Set" is his true name.

Setekh is Set, an evil God.

It all makes sense to Lucy now; things coming to life and peaceful towns turning violent are his work. _Everything_ makes sense to her, and she has a feeling Dan is right now being a pawn in whatever plan Set has brewing in his mind. This disgusts Lucy, but she hasn't found anything concerning Kek. This makes her think about the little guy a little more, wondering what he is doing in allegiance to Set.

She looked on the other page to see if there is anything about Kek, and much to her delight, there is something. She sees that there is not much on him except that he is the deification of primordial darkness. The information is small, but as Lucy looks towards the sky and sees how it is a dark purple, she knows Kek is causing it. _The two are conspiring with each other for some reason_. She concludes. _But_ what _is the real question. Hopefully Cobra has something for me when I see him._ She sighs at the thought; the poor man hasn't been finding anything lately, which means he either sucks at his job or he really hasn't found anything. Lucy is hoping for the later.

A creaking sound echoed throughout the gardens, drawing Lucy from the book. She looks forward to where the door is, wondering if it is Dan coming to talk to her, but she is disappointed when she sees the small hunched-back figure of Kek walking around. He looks anxious, like someone is going to attack him at any moment, and is twirling his fingers around by his chest. His nose seems to look a little bigger to Lucy, but she focused her eyes somewhere else.

Then she remembers the book she has in front of her, and feels the hairs on her body stick up as an unsettling feeling enters her stomach. If Kek sees her with the book he will know she is doing research on the Gods, and possibly blow her and Cobra's cover. She started to scan the area around her in hopes of finding a place to hide the book, yet to her despair, there is no place to quickly hide it. She bit her bottom lip as she thought about the book's cover. There is no words or descriptions on the back of it, so maybe if she held the top to her chest it will hide it.

She did exactly that, and held it close to her chest with both arms, sitting up straighter in her spot next to the fountain in the middle of the garden. She hugged the book to her chest as Kek stopped a couple of feet away from her. His eyes gave her a curious look as he examined the book in her arms, quickly going back up to her face to see if her facial expression will give anything away. Lucy just smiled at the short man, hiding any signs of her inner thoughts.

"Hello, Kek," Lucy greeted as nice as she possibly could. "What brings you here?"

Kek shyly smiled at her as he brought his hands to a standstill. They are now folded neatly in front of him as a wave of confidence washed over him. This made Lucy raise her eyebrows at him, but she still held on to a small smile even though she wanted to punch his nose in.

His aurora seems a little different to Lucy; much more powerful and dark. This made her wary of what he might do or say. She knows she can handle whatever he throws at her, but she will have to be on her toes.

"I'm here to bring you fabulous news," Kek mentioned as he walked a little closer to her, making Lucy uncomfortable. "Something that shall bring two people joy."

"And that is?"

"A proposal, Miss Lucy. Setekh has taken an interest in you, and wants to have your hand in marriage. It is this world's custom to feel gracious about someone has high ranked as him to want your hand." exclaimed Kek as a slight grin expanded his lips.

Lucy stopped breathing. This is not what she expected to happen when Kek walked through the doors leading to the Palace Gardens. A proposal? That just seems like bogus to her, nor does she want to do it. She has only known the man for two weeks, and even then she has sensed evil coming from him. As if she will fall into his hands.

This all brought back memories of when Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail because her father wanted her back to marry her off to some guy. She feels exactly the same now as she did back then; angry, sad, surprised… so many emotions. Her hands balled into fists as her breathing came back, but more uneven. Her face started to turn a little red with anger, her hands turning white from the strong grip on the book. _How_ dare _Setekh ask this of me!_ She thought angrily as she looked up at Kek. Her eyes are burning with a fierce fire that can wipe out an entire forest, or in this case, the short man standing in front of her.

"I know this may seem a little daunting," Kek slowly said as he took in the look of anger Lucy is sending his way. "But think about all the benefits that can come with this marriage. The money will come at an abundance, and worrying about food will never be an issue. You will have a magnificent home with a bunch of land, and best of all, it will seem like the world will be at your finger tips."

What Lucy heard flew over her head as she thought about what to say to Kek. She knows what her answer will be, but if she has to give a reason why, she needs to come up with something.

"My answer is no." Lucy firmly told Kek. "I decline this proposal."

Kek looked taken back at the hard tone she just used, but then something happened Lucy did not expect.

A dark look started to grow over Kek's face, like a storm covering up the sky as the rain starts to pour. His eyes flashed a dangerous red as his back suddenly seemed to get a little straighter. The air seemed to pick up around the garden as the sky up above started to turn from purple to a dark grey. His timid manner disappeared in the blink of an eye as an evil look replaced everything.

One of Lucy's arms quickly tore away from the book to rest on her keys, her eyes glaring into his as she felt a dark aurora surround him. _This isn't good…_ she thought to herself as she started to look at the area around her. She is looking for a way out incase he is about to strike. Her mind then unexpectedly drifted to Cobra, and deep in her bones, she feels the need to have him near her - to help her in this situation. She has fought many tough criminals during her time as a wizard, but not a _God_. She can only hold him off for so long before it starts to turn in Kek's favor.

"And why is that?" Kek's voice got suddenly low and clear as he started to slowly change back to his normal self, but the dark aurora never left. "Is it that buffoon Cobra? You two seem close."

Lucy's cheeks suddenly grew warm at the mention of Cobra. She feels a little funny as she thought about him, but she pushed everything aside as she started to stand up, making her taller than Kek. She then tucked the book under one of her arms, and glared down at the shorter man.

"My answer remains the same. I'm sticking to it, do you understand?" declares Lucy, not going into detail with Cobra. She does feel something for him, but she has yet to determine what that is.

Kek looks like he is about to say something to her, but then the sound of the door opening stopped him from saying anything. The two looked towards the entrance, each with different expressions. Lucy's is nervous yet angry, and she is hoping that it is not Setekh coming to intrude on the conversation. She sees Kek even angrier now since their conversation was disturbed.

Cobra is seen rushing through the door with his one eye looking around for something. His one eye settles on Lucy and Kek after scanning the area, but then his rushed expression turns to one of annoyance. His canines are showing and his eye is shooting daggers at the tiny man.

Lucy feels relieved that it is Cobra who walked through the doors and not Setekh, or else she would have been in major trouble. Relief is washing over her like a waterfall, but as she reads Cobra's body language, she sees he is angry about something. She knows he is trying to keep himself composed, but its seems like he is hiding something. That doesn't take the fact away from how happy she is to see him.

"Cobra…" Lucy whispers with a small smile as one of her hands goes to the middle of her chest in a little ball.

Cobra walks past Kek and stands beside Lucy. He is standing three inches away from her, letting her know he is there. She almost leans into him, but resists due to Kek standing in front of them.

Kek is left standing there, staring at the two mages in front of him. He can see the companionship between the two wizards, yet he sees something else there he does not like.

"It seems like you have other people to keep you company… I will be on my way." Kek said to them with a small bow of his head, and turned on his heel to start walking out of the Palace Gardens.

The two mages watched the short man leave the area with the door slowly closing behind him. They both started to relax as the air around them started to turn normal, and as Lucy looked up towards the sky, she sees the dark grey sky turn back to purple. The wind around them started to die down to a nice, comforting breeze, making Lucy feel a little safer than she did a couple of moments ago. As she looked to her left at Cobra, she sees he feels the same.

He then turns to look at her with his one eye. "What the hell happened?"

Lucy sighed as she sat back down on the stone fountain, laying the book on her lap. Prior events ran though her mind, making her feel uneasy, but she starts to wonder why Cobra hasn't bluntly said anything about the proposal. She figures he wants to hear it come out of her own mouth and use her words, which she respects.

"Setekh… wants my hand in marriage," sighs Lucy as she rubs her upper arms with her hands. "I declined the offer for obvious reasons, but it almost seemed like Kek was going to force me into it. I don't know the customs of this world, but that is not right."

She hears Cobra hum at her words, but soon feels a comforting hand on her left shoulder. His hand is touching her shoulder lightly, almost as if he doesn't know how to properly comfort someone, yet she appreciates the little connection. There are no words needed, for their body language is just enough communication.

"I have found something," Cobra mentions a few moments later. "It is of importance."

Lucy looks up at him surprised, and yanks him down on the fountain next to her. He glares at her as he almost fell back into the water, but she taps her foot on the stone beneath her. He sighs as he folds his arms over his chest as he prepares to tell her the information he has found.

"Dan showed me a passageway to tunnels underneath the castle, and told me what I could possibly find in there. They are old and not taken care of except for one of them. The first place I went to was a jail for prisoners of war, where their skeletons still lay. Those skeletons look like they haven't been taken care of for ages, but when I entered a catacomb, some of the skeletons looked like they have been recently taken care of. Their armor is still new and their weapons are still in good shape," Cobra explained as he tried to figure out what it all means.

"Anything else?" asks Lucy.

"I'm getting to it! Anyway, I followed the catacomb to a door and behind that door lead to a room used for generals. I found Kek and Setekh there talking to each other. They looked different, had a much more powerful feel, and Setekh went with a new name that also begins with 'S'…" Cobra trailed off as he thought about what Setekh is actually called. "Yet that isn't the only thing that stuck out to me. They mentioned about taking this whole land under their control starting from this castle, and from a place called Uruk. That is all I gathered."

Lucy hums as she thought about what Cobra told her. She knows he is telling her the truth, yet she feels like he is hiding something else from her. She just nods her head as she took in everything, but then she started to open up the book on her lap to the pages she wants Cobra to read.

"Setekh's real name is Set. He looks like this, right?" Lucy asks as she hands the book over to Cobra, who slowly takes it from her. "He is a God, not a mortal man, and the same is with Kek. They're evil Gods, too, and they seem to be working together."

Cobra growls as he read the paper, smashing the book back together. "That explains something Dan told us. They are disturbing the Gods in their little world because they are trying to take it over, but that isn't all of it. They want to take this one as well."

"That explains the people and animals turning into skeleton creatures, and the dead coming to life!" Lucy concluded as her eyes lit up with realization.

"No shit, Sherlock," Cobra mumbles, but he growls when Lucy suddenly takes the book from his hands and smacks him with it. "Ow…"

"Suck it up. We have to warn Dan with what is going on; he can't trust those two!" exclaims Lucy as she starts to stand up. "If this is the case, then the two of us have to set out sooner than we think. We can't waste time here waiting for the scouts to return."

Cobra stood up with her as he rubs the painful bump on his head, glaring and hissing at her. He is trying to see why he deserved the smack, but from reading Lucy he knows she is right now annoyed with him. _This is what I get for worrying about her?_ He thinks angrily to himself, but then he feels himself freeze a little. _I should have told her what they thought of her, but what Kek asked seemed to cover that already…_ He concludes.

Lucy starts to walk away from the fountain towards the entrance to the Palace Gardens with Cobra following not far behind.

Yet the door slams open as Dan comes running in, his chest heaving and his breathing heavy. Lucy stands there surprised while Cobra stands there calmly, knowing that this was going to happen.

"The scouts are returning!" Dan breathed out. "We must greet them at the castle's entrance! Now, _now_!"

Lucy shivers a little from the urgent tone he is using, and starts to run behind him. She is gripping the book in her hand as she ran, thinking and wondering what the scouts will return with.

Cobra isn't too far behind them, but he already knows what Dan's urgency is about. His face grew grim as he read Dan, not liking what he is about to be faced with.

 **Sorry about taking forever to get this thing uploaded. I had a lot going on the past few days, which made it a little difficult to write and edit. I hope you all enjoyed this! Please review below if you think this was a good chapter, or if I need to improve the characters a little more. I know I have to work on Cobra, so any advice is welcome.**

 **I apologize for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes. They simply escaped my eyes while editing.**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World:**_

 **Chapter Eleven: The Truth Is Revealed**


	11. The Truth is Revealed

**Author's Note:** **Hello and welcome back. I'm sorry for the late update. I have many things going on in my life that is giving me less time to write, but I will always find the time to work on the chapters. My updates will always be one to two weeks late.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Eleven:**

The Truth is Revealed

Cobra grunted to himself as he read all the thoughts around him. It is driving him insane, yet he has to keep his cool for what is coming. The second Dan flew through the Palace Garden doors, Cobra knew what was going on.

He looked toward Lucy, who is running a couple of feet in front of him, and sees she is still carrying the book with her. It is tucked right under her right arm, secure and safe at her side. He cannot stray too far from her now, for he doesn't only read the danger but sense it, too. He feels it creeping into his bones as he runs, gnawing at every fiber of his being. Cobra knows the feeling of evil all too well since he used to be evil himself, but he can't let the same feeling engulf Lucy. To him she is too pure, a light that should never be tainted.

 _I wonder what Cobra senses. He seemed a little too calm when Dan came running in a few minutes ago_. He heard Lucy think. _I hope it isn't too bad._

Cobra growled at the thought, not believing the innocence. He can pick up the person coming towards the castle, but the soul is faint.

The three of them ran to the front entrance of the castle, which is loaded with guards who looked confused or frightened, making Lucy feel uneasy. She is hoping for the scouts to return with something good, but from what she is seeing around her, that isn't the case. She feels an evil presence all around her, as if it is trying to get near her. She ignores the feeling, knowing she will never fall to the dark side, and walks close behind Dan as she focuses on the door. She looks over her shoulder to see where Cobra is, and to her relief, he is walking not far behind her.

She sees him focusing on two different points: her and the door. This is when she knew he is looking out for her, and deep inside she feels an emotion she cannot describe. It is more than thankfulness, and if she is honest with herself, it is making her feel a little shy and giddy. It is weird, but she doesn't have the time to decipher anything. _Everything will fall into place at some point_. She thought to herself, but unknown to her, Cobra read her entire soul in that moment.

Cobra mainly feels surprised, yet he also feels something deep in his bones. It is like a string pulling him towards her, not letting him go. He growls to himself, focusing on the thoughts of the guards as he shoved past them with his shoulders. The guards would glare at him as he did this, yet he sends back an even more menacing glare that makes them back down like a dog with it's tail between it's legs.

Dan stood in front of the group of guards, standing tall and proud as he did so. His gaze is locked on the door in front of him. He has been waiting for the scouts to return, but he can't ignore the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. It's churning, making his food from earlier sit uneasy.

"Cobra," Dan called out to the Poison Dragon Slayer. "What do you hear?"

Lucy and Cobra are standing right behind Dan, standing side-by-side, and the Dragon Slayer remained quiet as he listened for the soul approaching the castle. Like before, it is faint with little to no thoughts coming from it. He sighed as a grim look slowly made its appearance on his facial features.

"There is one soul, and its faint. I can barely hear anything from It." answered Cobra as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, resting his weight on his left leg.

Lucy's eyes widened as Cobra's words sunk into her brain. A single soul out of how many that went out. She knows what that means, and she started to feel herself start to freak out. "Oh no…" She whispered.

Cobra turned his head a little to face the Celestial Spirit mage when he heard her panicked voice. He hummed to himself as he thought about what he can do to help her, but he knows now is not the time for comforting words.

The doors slowly started to open, making Cobra look away from the mage as a glare set in his one eye. His grim look became serious, and he got into a position in case he needed to quickly fight.

A hand pushed the door slightly, soon followed by an arm, and then the rest of the body. The scout is resting on the door as stepped through the threshold, making sure it supports his weight. He stumbled a few feet as he pushed himself off the door, walking forward with no sense of balance. His head is hanging low; his uniform is torn and ripped to shreds with parts of his body showing. His walking became slower as time seemed to slow down, making every moment painfully tense. As he stopped walking, he found the will to stand up straight.

Lucy gasped as her free hand flew up to her mouth as she took in the injuries the man is carrying. She sees deep gashes and bit marks littering his body, and she sees stab wounds in the vital areas of his torso. His right eye has a slash going across it, almost going into his left, with a stream of blood still flowing out of it. She sees that the eye is missing, and that his other eye is having trouble focusing from the blood loss. Bruises have formed all over his body from whatever beating he took before arriving at the castle.

Cobra remained calm at the sight, piecing everything together before he saw what he scout looked like. He pieced together what Dan and the guards were thinking, and he wishes there was a way for him to warn Lucy ahead of time, but circumstances seemed to not allow him to do that. He just stood next to Lucy with his hands still in his pockets, not phased by the man's appearance.

"Prince Dan…" The guard's voice croaked out as he took a step forward, only to start to falling.

Dan looked at the man panicked before shooting forward, grabbing the man in his arms, and starting to lay him gently down on the ground. He moved his feet away from the man's head as he laid it down on the marble, careful not give any more pain than he is already feeling. He instead kneeled beside the guard, taking one of his hands in his own as he stared down into his eyes intensely.

Dan wants the man to know he is there for him, and that he won't pass alone. He won't allow his final moments to be one of loneliness, for no person should have to go through that. He wishes he went with the scouts to help guide them safely, but that is not the case. It hasn't been the case for many people in his world, which he feels terrible about. If this is one thing he can do for someone, then so be it. It won't make up for the others who have died, but it is a start. He will redeem everyone when everything is solved. Dan is sure of it.

"I'm here," The Prince said looking at him. "With whatever strength you have, please tell me what happened."

The guard started a coughing fit, blood starting to leak from the corner of his mouth, flowing down his chin. "Ur… has fallen. There was only one survivor, but he didn't make back to the castle. We were ambushed by… skeleton warriors roaming the land. They… killed the survivor along with my group… I barely got away."

Dan sighed as he looked out towards the open door, looking off into the desert surrounding his palace. He then looked towards Lucy, who is starting to cry as her hand is muffling the sound of her sobs. He can only imagine how she is feeling; she must have never seen something like this happen before. His eyes then traveled to Cobra, who is looking out the door intensely, making sure nothing followed the guard on his travels. Cobra seems calm on the outside, but the prince knows his mind is going a million miles per second.

"Do you have any idea who is behind this?" Dan asked as he looked back down at the scout, whose face is turning pale.

The scout breathed in the best he could before more coughs erupted from him, causing his body to shake uncontrollably on the floor. His hand is reaching out to grip something, but it just flailed around as each cough escaped past his lips.

"Your parent's advisor… isn't who he seems. He…" The scout breathed in, but it stopped short as he tried to talk. "He…" It became harder for the man to speak as his eye searched the ceiling endlessly for something, and when his eye landed on the picture above him, he used his last strength to point at the specific picture. "Him…"

Everyone in the room followed the man's finger, looking at the picture on the ceiling. The picture depicts a man who has tan skin, fangs that are like a snake's, and who is wearing a red and black, formfitting suit.

The people in the room recognized the God as Set.

Cobra and Lucy turned to look at each other with knowing looks, and Lucy wiped her remaining tears as anger started to bubble up inside her. Many thoughts are running ramped through her head. She couldn't believe that everything has come down to this.

A light thud echoed throughout the entrance, making everyone turn to look at Dan with the deceased man. The scout's eye is still open, but it has a hazy look to it. Dan pursed his lips together as the hand he is holding goes limp, easily sliding out of his.

Cobra's muscles stiffened as he heard the man's last thoughts disappear from his mind. He hears the muscles loosening, the sound of his heart stop beating - he hears everything. He shakes his head, momentarily not knowing what to think as he watched a guard come from one of the halls, and lay a white piece of cloth over the man's body. He hears stifles of sobs next to him, and he turns his head slightly to look over at Lucy.

Tears are falling from her brown eyes as she stared at the deceased man, and her breathing is uneven as she kept herself from crying, not wanting to make a scene. Cobra hears her muscles tightening to stop the tears, and part of him wants to wrap an arm around her, yet he still doesn't feel comfortable enough with close contact. He then zones in on her thoughts, and is surprised when he hears one thing echo through her mind: _I will make sure his death isn't in vain_. Respect grew within the ex-criminal for the young woman next to him, and he moved a little closer to her, resting a hand on the shoulder closest to him.

Lucy looks up at Cobra, surprised with the contact he is giving her. She smiles softly at him as she wipes the tears with the back of her hand, gripping the book in her arm tightly. Cobra just nods at her in understanding, and then they both turn their heads to watch a couple of guards lift the man's body to take him away.

The area remained silent for a couple of moments as everyone gathered their thoughts with what happened a minute ago. Dan has moved beside Lucy, his eyes focusing on the ground near his feet. He is blinking, trying to stop himself from crying in front of his people and friends. He is trying to be strong for them, since they need him the most.

The silence was disrupted when two pairs of feet echoed throughout the entrance, and the everyone turned to look at the people arriving. Lucy's eyes narrowed as she stepped in front of Dan, getting in a protective stance. Cobra started to hiss right beside her as he, too, stepped in front of Dan with his hands coming out of his pockets.

Setekh and Kek arrived at the entrance, both surrounded with a dangerous aura. Their scents filled Cobra's nose as he glared at them, holding himself back from killing the two on the spot. He sees Setekh's hands folded behind his back as he holds his head high as he takes in everything. Kek appears confident, which is something new to Lucy and Cobra.

Lucy grits her teeth as she sees them stop not far from everyone, giving everyone a little nod. _How fake._ She thought as she shifted the book about the evil Gods from one arm to the other.

"I see I missed something important," Setekh announced as he looked towards the bloodstained floor. "My Prince, my advice is to get a maid or butler to clean that up. The blood will stain the floor."

Dan was about to say something, but Lucy put an arm up, stopping him from saying anything.

"I suggest not trusting him, Dan," She mentioned to him. "This man is not who he seems. The scout was correct, and he pointed at the right picture on the ceiling. Setekh is not Setekh, and not an advisor to you or to your parents." She explained.

Setekh and Kek raised their eyebrows at Lucy, but then grins broke out on their lips. Cobra growled at them, but what surprised everyone was the hiss Setekh sent his way, a spiked tongue poking out between his teeth.

"He is Set, God of chaos, deserts, storms, and foreigners. He is the one causing everything bad in your land," Lucy continued, not breaking eye contact with both Kek and Setekh. "And Kek is still Kek, but he is not the weak man he lets everyone think. He is the deification of primordial darkness. He is helping Set with his plans."

Everyone in the room started whispering to one another, and Dan just stared at Lucy with wide eyes. Cobra is grinning at the two Gods in front of him, knowing Lucy has them right where she wants them.

Set started to chuckle, which soon turned into full-out laughter. Everyone went silent as the God in front of them laughed manically, not holding anything back. A dark mist started to surround himself and Kek, making the guards and Dan uneasy.

"How were you able to figure that out?" asked Set with a hiss. "I made sure to keep myself hidden from these mortals."

"Easy. This book right here," Lucy shot back as she held up the book. "Cobra also overheard you and Kek talking in your little room. You plan to take over not only the world of Gods, but also this world. The reason why there is a disturbance in the Gods is because of you. You're throwing everything off balance."

Set looked straight into Dan's eyes as his clothes started to change into his black and red outfit, and his fangs became more noticeable. "I knew I should have gotten rid of you after I poisoned your parents. Then I wouldn't be in this predicament now."

Dan drew his sword as he glared at Set with a look that could kill, and he pushed past Lucy and Cobra to face him. "You… you killed my parents?" His voice is shaky and dangerously low as Cobra started to sense a murderous intent coming from him.

Everything remained quiet as Kek then turned into his true appearance, making the guards unsheathe their swords. The air around everyone started to pick up as the doors started to sway in their hinges. Lucy heard thunder cracking outside, and as she turned to see what is coming, she saw the sky start to turn a dark grey. She sees lightning striking the ground all around them, and she turned back to see Set's eyes start to glow red.

"No matter, anyway. I will complete my goal of having my very own world… even if I have to kill many Gods and people." declared Set as a murderous grin appeared on his lips. "I have Uruk* under my rule, but now it is time to expand further."

Lucy started to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as the air around them continued to pick up. Palm trees were blowing harshly in the wind with some getting uprooted, and sand started to blow all around, even blowing inside the castle. Her eyes widened when she started to see something move quickly in the distance; one second there and one second gone. It wasn't just one thing, it was multiple things. She knows this means trouble, but she doesn't know what to do with everything going on around her. She doesn't feel useless, but she feels unprepared.

A snap took her attention away from what was going outside, and her eyes landed on Set's pair of fingers as his grin grew wider. Screams and moans erupted from the guards surrounding her and her two comrades, and they soon started to grip their heads as pain coursed through their bodies. Their skin started disappearing as their eyes started to glow a bright red. Their screams grew louder and louder and their bodies started to get thinner.

Cobra quickly moved right to Lucy's side and growled as the guards' skin started to melt away along with their muscles. Lucy started shaking next to Cobra as they soon turned into skeletons, and she quickly hugged the book to her chest as Set's eyes then moved to her.

It is in that moment she knew why Set wants her hand in marriage, and she felt rage go through her veins as she glared at the God. Set wants her to be his queen in his new world. She became disgusted at the thought, especially since it is his fault that a man died in front of her. She wanted to run at him and give him a good kick in the head, but she knows that will lead her into a more dangerous situation. She also realized this is the little fact Cobra hid from her earlier, and she feels a little annoyed that he didn't say anything

The skeletons that used to be guards stood still as Set hissed in pleasure at their transformation. "Attack. Leave no one alive." With a snap of his fingers, the skeleton warriors drew their swords.

Clicking can be heard coming from outside, causing Cobra, Dan, and Lucy to cringe at the sound. The clicking started to turn into screeching, and Lucy quickly turned her head towards the door. She let out a little scream as she saw skeleton warriors running up the steps towards the entrance to the palace. Cobra looked towards the door with a wide eye, and started to curse under his breath as he quickly dodged a slash from one of the skeleton warriors.

Lucy looked between the skeletons, Dan, Cobra, and the entrance to the castle. She sees the skeleton warriors getting closer to the doors, not slowing down and weapons drawn. She shook her head when she knew what to do, and rushed towards the front door. She skidded to a stop as she grabbed hold of the door that is wide open, and pushed against the wind as she tried to close it. She doesn't know if the door being closed will stop the advance of the skeletons outside, but if it has a chance of slowing them down, then she will gladly put her life on the line. She used all of her strength to push that door against the wind to make sure that it closes, hoping that she will accomplish what she is doing.

"Do you mind if _I_ cut in?" Set's voice hummed in her right ear as his tongue slightly flicked it, making her let out a surprised scream.

Lucy gritted her teeth as she took the book she was holding, and got in position to smash it into the God's head. She isn't going to hold back - she wants to make sure he is on the ground in pain for everything he has caused. He quickly gripped the hand that was pushing the door, and yanked it off, causing the door to open again.

"Poison Dragon's Roar!" Cobra's voice echoed throughout the room, and Lucy saw the cloud of poison heading towards her and Set.

Lucy knows she is in the line of fire, and not wanting to become poisoned, she swiftly kicked Set in the stomach. He grunted in pain as he gripped his stomach, letting go of her hand as he skidded back a couple of feet. With her strength Lucy kicked the door closed, and dodged the poison attack. She saw it hit Set with full force, and she quickly got out of dodge if the evil God retaliated. Lucy hears the bangs the skeleton warriors are making from the other side of the door, screeching and clicking as they continuously banged with all of their might.

She ran over to Cobra's side, who is making his dragon scales disappear as Dan took down the skeletons one by one. Cobra looked at Lucy with concern in his one eye, and she nodded at him to let him know she is okay.

"Cobra! Lucy! I need you two to listen to me," Dan screamed, looking over his shoulder at them. "Escape the castle and meet me on an island. The island is located in the outskirts of a place called Heliopolis**!" He quickly dodged an attack, and landed a hit on one of the skeleton warriors. "From there we will come up with a new plan!"

"What about you?" Lucy asked worried. "We can't just leave you here!"

She saw Dan about to say something, but he quickly put his sword in front of him to block an attack. She gripped the book as she started to back away, not taking her eyes off of any foe that came close to her. Cobra looked at Dan as his senses ran wild from the fighting happening all around him, but then he locked onto Dan's thoughts.

 _Cobra, get Lucy and yourself out of here, and meet me at Heliopolis. It's not safe here anymore. I'll escape in one piece since my transportation magic will allow me to do so. Use the tunnels as a form of escape. They will lead you two out of the castle, but where they lead is a mystery to me. Now go! I cannot stay here much longer!_ Dan told Cobra through his thoughts, and the Poison Dragon Slayer nodded his head towards the Prince.

"You better make it out of here alive." growled Cobra.

Cobra grunted as he looked away from Dan, and grabbed Lucy's wrist. He tugged her forward as he started to run, not looking back at the scene behind him. He hears Dan's soul start to transport somewhere else, and knows that the prince is leaving his castle. He grinned to himself, glad that Dan was able to make it out like he said, but he started to feel annoyed that Lucy is starting to slow down. He turned to look at her, and saw she is looking back towards the door, which just busted open as more skeleton warriors flooded the entrance.

Next to the door is Set, who is starting to stand up with Cobra's poison dripping out of his mouth, looking up at the two of them with a burning fury. He looks like he is ready to kill the two of them, but they are out of his range as they continued towards the feast room. Kek is by his side, helping him up as he looked at the two mages with hatred. The skeleton warriors are now starting to make their way to all parts of the castle as screams from the butlers and maids reached Cobra's ears.

Cobra sees how fast the skeletons are going as they started to catch up, and he cursed under his breath. He started to slow down as he looked to see what Lucy is wearing on her feet to make her run slow, and when he saw what she is wearing he wanted to break a wall. She is wearing small heels that are obviously hurting her feet, which is making her run slower than usual. Shaking his head he quickly threw her forward, much to her surprise and anger, and picked her up like a bride.

"You're too slow, Heartfilia, especially in those shoes." Cobra pointed out as his pace started to quicken.

Lucy sighed, knowing that Cobra is right, and wrapped her free arm around his neck to make sure she stays secure in his arms.

Cobra cradled Lucy close to him as he started to see the staircases leading up to the feast room, watching regular guards start to run towards the commotion as maids and butlers were running around in panic. The Poison Dragon Slayer dodged the people who were in his way, wanting to get to the entrance to the tunnels on time.

He knows he is limited with time with what is going on in the castle; he hears souls dying behind him as people encountered the skeletons, making him grit his teeth. He is hoping that they make it on time, for their little quest just got a whole lot more dangerous.

 ***Uruk: An ancient city of Sumer that is located in modern day Iraq.**

** **Heliopolis: A major city in Ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the 13** **th** **(or Heliopolis) Nome of Lower Egypt. It is now located in modern day Cairo.**

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry if it seemed to drag on. This chapter was originally going to be short, but that didn't happen. I also wrote this late at night, so… XD**

 **I'm sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes. They escaped my eyes.**

 **Coming soon to** _ **The Cursed World:**_

 **Chapter Twelve: Escaping the Castle**


	12. Escaping the Castle

5

**Author's Note Welcome back! It has been a while, but I finally have the time to write. I want to thank everyone for being patient and for sticking with the story. Everything has been nuts lately with unpacking, getting everything organized, etc... (Check out the author's note in** _ **The Pirates of Fairy Tail Book One**_ **to see what took so long).**

 **I want to apologize if my writing isn't up to par. It has been a while.**

 _ **Fairy Tail**_ **is owned by Hiro Mashima.**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 **Escaping the Castle**

A single light illuminated the long, dark hallway as sand crunched under two pairs of feet. The fire flickered in many different directions as the wind blew within the tunnel, creating a whistling noise that sent a shiver down the young woman's spine. To her, it just made things more creepy.

The man in front of her stared ahead as he walked, keeping his one eye peeled in case anything jumped out at him. She stared at his toned back, wanting to start some sort of conversation with him, yet she kept to herself. She sighed, feeling guilt creep into the pit of her stomach as her eyes cast down towards the sand.

The guilt of leaving someone behind.

During her time in Fairy Tail, Lucy learned to never leave a friend behind no matter the circumstances. Yet she remembers Dan's parting words to tell them to leave the castle _without_ him. She didn't see him get away, nor hear him use his teleportation magic to get him away from the castle. She doesn't know if he is alright, laying on the ground wounded, or if he was killed during the attack. The feeling of not knowing is troubling her, and she knows it is showing in her body language.

She lagged behind, not caring about the darkness surrounding her. She can easily defend herself, but she just couldn't help but worry about Dan.

A growl came from the mage in front of her, causing her to quickly look at the back of his head. Cobra didn't turn to look at her as he walked, stuffing his free hand in a pocket as his shoulders relaxed. Lucy didn't know how to respond to his growl; usually she would say something sarcastic towards him, or just brush him off. This time it felt different, like she was afraid of his judgement, so she slowed her walking down to keep some distance between the two of them.

"You have nothing to worry about, Heartfilia," mentioned Cobra in his gruff voice. "So stop. Your thoughts are giving me a headache."

Despite Cobra using her last name for the past few days, it still surprised her when he said it. It moved from calling her a"fairy" to a name basis. Maybe, _just maybe_ , he is starting to put a little faith in her. And if she were to be honest with herself, she is starting to put some faith in him, too.

Yet when his words sunk in, she gritted her teeth. "Well, sorry for worrying about someone. Its only natural, you know..."

"I, personally, don't care," Cobra said with a small smirk forming, loving her sudden change of thoughts. "But if you really want to know, he did make it out on time. I heard his thoughts as he teleported away."

Lucy halted right where she was walking, and slowly lifted her head to look at him. Cobra walked a couple of more feet before stopping and facing her, raising an eyebrow at her. He noticed that her thoughts stopped completely, leaving a blank slate in her mind. _Oh no..._ He thought, yet started grinning to himself.

 _Three... Two... One..._

Lucy started stomping towards him with her fists clenched together as she ranted on about how much of an ass he is. She started to hit his chest repeatedly, causing no damage. Cobra started to feel annoyed by the constant hitting, and quickly took his free hand out of his pocket to grab a hold of her wrists in a single swipe.

"Stop it. That's annoying as hell." sneered Cobra.

"Do you even know where he said to meet him?" scolded Lucy, her cheeks growing warm from his contact. She desperately tried to hide it, but she knew Cobra could see the slight flush on her cheeks. She hoped he would think her cheeks are warm from her anger, not the close proximity.

She saw Cobra's one eye narrow a little as he released her wrists from his grasp, and tucked his hand back in his pocket once more.

"He said to meet us at a place called Heliopolis," Cobra said as he started to turn around. "Right now we should focus on getting out of these tunnels... unless you want to die in here."

Lucy breathed in and out as she started to calm herself down. She gently brushed her finger tips against her wrists, still feeling the warmth from his hands. Her legs started moving again as she hugged herself, starting to look around the dark tunnels.

An eerie feeling encased her body, slowly making it grow cold as she thought about where the exit will take them. She wondered if it will take them into enemy territory, or if it will lead them somewhere safe - safe from Set and his skeletons, and Kek and his darkness.

More importantly, she hoped they can get out of the tunnels alive.

 _ **12**_

Lucy stretched her arms as she rested against a cold wall, watching Cobra listen behind each of the three doors before them. He is focused, making sure to hear an air current. She remembers him saying something about knowing where to go due to air currents, but she didn't bother to understand since she felt like that could give them the wrong information.

She watched Cobra stand up straight once more as he kept his one eye closed. She knows his dragon senses can pick up the things around them, so maybe an air current won't be that hard for him. Then again, she works with Natsu...

Her eyes then widened. She saw something. Something shining bright near Cobra. It is pale blue, sticking out like a sore thumb against the darkness. Her head tilted a little as she slowly moved herself off the wall. Her steps were light as she traveled to the other side, keeping her eyes locked to the material that is shinning. Its pale blue light stayed the same as Cobra moved around, shinning brighter as he moved to the right.

She pursed her lips together as something started to piece together in Lucy's mind. It glows brighter when it is near a certain side... near a certain door. She was then able to place where the light was coming from, and that is in his pocket.

"Cobra! Don't move." commanded Lucy as she started to walk towards him.

The said man raised his eyebrows at her as she walked right next to him, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed together - she was in full concentration mode. Knowing better than to disturb her, he stood still, watching her every move.

She started to reach her hand out towards him, coming in rather quick. His eye widened as he moved to grab her wrist, but she swatted it away before her hand dived into one of his pockets.

"What the-?!" He started, but she shushed him as she dug around.

Lucy ignored the cold stares sent her way, but as her fingers rubbed against iron, she grinned victoriously. In one swift movement she pulled out the glowing material, and he stared at the item in her hands with wide eyes. His hand then moved towards the object, touching its surface. He traced it down with her fingers, getting the image in his mind as it started to click together.

"That's the key I found." He whispered.

"What?"

"This is the key I found," he repeated "When I was down in the tunnels earlier today, I I found it in the hands of a deceased warrior from ages ago."

Lucy squeaked as she shoved the key towards Cobra, not liking how it was found in the hands of a dead person. Yet deep down she was also thankful that he listened to whatever told him to pick it up, for she knows this is their key to getting out of the tunnels.

"It shines brighter when it is near a certain door. Maybe this key is our guide to get out of here." she brought up, looking right into Cobra's one eye as he started to grin down at her.

"Then let's test that theory, shall we?" He asked smoothly, holding the key up in front of him.

Lucy watched as Cobra eyed the key in his hands as he moved it to the left, watching it dim as placed it far left. He shook his head, almost growling when that didn't turn out as planned. She started to sweat drop, wondering if that was the door Cobra was going to lead them down.

Then it started to shine brighter and brighter the more right he made it go, until he stopped at the door they were standing in front of. It glowed just like a star in the night sky, lighting up the whole door. A smile broke out on Lucy's lips as she gently took the key from Cobra's hand, not caring if a deceased man touched it or not, and brought it down to the keyhole.

It went in easily, and she turned it as the iron inside moved with it. She heard a loud _click_ as the door became unlocked, and she ever-so gently pushed the door open.

Wind started to move out of the door, blowing some of her hair out of her face. It blew the fire on the torch Cobra was holding, and his grin grew as he started to move forward. He yanked the key out of the keyhole as he walked by, shooting a grin towards Lucy as he stuffed it in his pocket once more.

"Let's go, blondie. I've got a good feeling about this tunnel." Cobra said as he stopped to wait for her.

"Alright!" Lucy cheered as she walked through the threshold, silently closing the door behind her.

As strange as it was for her, she smiled as she walked right up to the Poison Dragon Slayer's side. The obstacle might have been small, but the two of them figured it out as a team. It gave her a feeling that eventually the two can get along besides their past battles with each other.

 **Alright... I'm back. I, personally, am not a fan of this chapter, but this is something that had to be written.**

 **I apologize for any spelling and grammar errors in this chapter, for they escaped my eyes while editing. I'm also a little rusty, so please give me time to get back into the swing of things.**

 _ **Coming Soon to "The Cursed World"...**_

 _ **Chapter Thirteen Entering Uruk**_

5


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